


You Know I'm No Good

by tsund0ku_library



Series: Sleeping on the Job [3]
Category: Metal Gear, Metal Gear Solid
Genre: Again, Age Difference, Almost a plot, Anal, And while you're at it, And yet I'm absurdly proud of this one?, Angst, David's a Black Widow nerd, Even though it's 1000 percent hypocritical, Fluff, Go read Back to Black by wolvesofbrooklyn, I just have this image in my head of Kaz being a jealous son of a bitch, I just like it, I still can't believe I wrote stuff longer than what inspired me, I'm sure Kaz is a jealous person, Jealousy, Let's just call it character driven, M/M, The last of the planned pre written stories, derivative work of a derivative work, for some context, half-baked plot, i don't understand, it's good, read the previous 2 installments in my bit first
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-07
Updated: 2015-11-07
Packaged: 2018-04-30 05:47:21
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 25,907
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5152577
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tsund0ku_library/pseuds/tsund0ku_library
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Solid and Kaz have a close call, causing Kaz to push Solid away. A big serving of angst and smutty fluff soon follow. The title is torn straight from an Amy Winehouse song. Slight spoilers for MGSV, I suppose.</p>
            </blockquote>





	You Know I'm No Good

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Back to Black](https://archiveofourown.org/works/4970722) by [wolvesofbrooklyn](https://archiveofourown.org/users/wolvesofbrooklyn/pseuds/wolvesofbrooklyn). 



And it had been going so well. So very well. Kazuhira hadn't felt this much like himself since the man he'd thought was Big Boss awoke from his coma. Or, no, it'd be more accurate to say he hadn't felt this way since the early days of MSF, when the beginnings of his dreams were coming to fruition. 

Solid was coming over to Master Miller's office more frequently these days after his duties were completed. All under the guise of helping him with paperwork with minuscule typeface, Kaz's eyes not being what they used to. In actuality, he was coming over simply to visit him, to spend time with him. Kaz hated to admit it, but more often than not, they ended up simply talking until lights out.

Kaz learnt about David's vast sense of humor. He learnt that Solid would crack dry, witty jokes and with the same breath tell a joke that would make a marine blush with its suggestive content. Or that he would laugh at both political satire and a pizza slice with google eyes with the same amount of zeal. David also had a large part of him that he normally held close, as if to protect it from prying eyes. David did laugh easily, but he was also incredibly private, hesitant to let go of any details about himself, as if he was giving away actual pieces of himself with every bit of information he let someone have. There was a seriousness to him, an undercurrent of solemnity that was always there.

Solid also found out unexpected things about Kaz in turn. Kaz told him about his business acumen, the classes he took. There business and communication classes, yes, but he also told him of his love of language and the guitar, something he hadn't properly played in many years. He'd had a passion and a talent for all forms of communication, be it musical or language. It was one of the things that made him so talented at business endeavors. Solid wondered what Kaz would have done if he hadn't had such deep ties to the military in his past. Kaz's whole life could have turned out completely differently, if his early life hadn't been so deeply entrenched in war. But it had, so he'd never even considered anything else. This struck a chord with Solid, who'd also always felt an explicably strong pull to this, to being a soldier, that he'd never considered doing anything different.

When they spoke like this, they always started with Kaz in his metal chair and Solid sat in the armchair, but they inevitably ended up tucked up beside one another on the floor, the old afghan spread beneath them and Solid's hand wound through Kaz's light hair. Sometimes they even did paperwork on the floor like that, Kaz truly having work to catch up on.

When Higgins approached him early one evening, he'd fully expected something like this. Hair still damp from the shower he'd taken after the comparatively easy training he had done (for the next two weeks after tomorrow, it was close quarters combat when fighting and reloading and\or completely out of ammo. It was with a different instructor, so he was not particularly looking forward to it.), Higgins had irritatedly called out his name from across the field. Solid jogged to meet her.

"Master Miller requests your immediate presence at his office." Higgins said, almost before Solid had caught up with her.

"Sorry, what?" Solid asked, feigning ignorance, serving the double purpose of setting off a thrill in the pit of his stomach at the thought that his Kaz wanted his presence and annoying Higgins, who'd irritated him more and more lately with each time Solid met her.

"Hell Master Miller! He wants you in his office yesterday." Higgins said with an exaggerated eye roll.

"Did he mention what for?" Solid asked innocently, a wicked lick of pleasure at this tiny bit of deceit he was partaking in coursing through him.

"No, he didn't. Probably so that he can get drunk while you fill out forms like always, right? Isn't that what you're usually doing in there?" Higgins said petulantly, rolling her eyes again.

"He doesn't get drunk," Solid defended him, a bit louder than necessary.

"Yeah, sure, whatever. No need to get your panties in a twist. I passed on the message, I'm done." And with that, she took off, her tight bun barely moving as she strode away from him.

Solid made his way down to Kaz's office, taking his time. He found Kaz leaning against the wall next to the frosted-glass panel door, looking impatient. Solid smiled happily at the sight of him searching the deserted corridor for him, pleased that his arrival was so anticipated.

"There you are! What did you have to do, trek Mt. Everest on your way here? Or- " David caught off the rest of his smart-ass remarks effectively with a long, sensual kiss. Solid had felt markedly more comfortable with initiating physical things with Kaz lately, something that normally Kaz would be delighted with, in the comfort of his office. Certainly not in plain view of anyone happening down the hallway. When Kaz's brain came back online, his eyes snapped open, fuzzily taking in David's eyes shut in pleasure, than scanning the hallway looking for the security cameras. Good, there were just turning back to them. They'd probably missed the passionate embrace of a recruit and his instructor. Still, he'd wipe 5 minutes of that tape if need be. He shoved Solid off of him with his crutch.

 "What the hell do you think you're doing?!" he spluttered hoarsely, his normally perfectly poised beret slipping from his head in his agitation. It fell to the floor with a small thump, unnoticed by either of them. David gave a sheepish grin.

"Sorry. I was a little overexcited, that's all." Kaz regarded him with mixed disgust and lust and twisted the knob of his door roughly. Solid's blue eyes popped even more with the water dying his hair a shade darker than normal.

 "I'd say! Anyone and their mother could have seen." Kaz scolded him, shutting the door tightly behind him.

"Sorry, sir. Won't happen again, sir. I promise not to let out anymore spontaneous gestures of affection in the future." Kaz glared at him from behind his sunglasses, the snarky sirs not slipping past him.

"Damn right it won't," Kaz said, closing the distance between them, not bothering to put the crutch up properly and letting it simply fall to the ground with a clatter. Kaz hungrily kissed David's mouth, a hand curled around the back of his throat to hold him in place. To his part, Solid kissed back with equal ferocity, his hands settled on Kaz's hard waist, pinkies tucked into the waistband of his pants.

David pulled back, breathing harsher than before. "So this is the urgent business Higgins spoke of." he said playfully, his eyes heavy-lidded with desire. Kaz grunted and pushed him into the wall, his lips searching for Solid's again. Their wall, really.

He broke the kiss to trail his lips along the column of Solid's throat, relishing the tensed muscles and tasting soap on his tongue. He nipped lightly here and there, always cautious, always mindful of the marks he left. David wished he wouldn't be. He could come up with a cover story, it wouldn't be too hard. With him disappearing all the time, half the people in his unit thought that he was slipping off base to meet a mysterious girlfriend.

"So," David asked, panting, already hot and bothered from the nipping, as Kaz took a break from his neck to remove the olive green t-shirt he wore. "What happened to your hat?"

Kaz stopped and looked at him, his roaming hand stilling on his warm chest. "My hat?" he asked blankly, lifting his hand from Solid's chest to feel his bare head. "My hat? What happened to my beret?" He looked around him, confused. He was certain he had it on when he'd been waiting for him in the hallway. He'd been fidgeting with it anxiously the whole time. "It must be in the hallway."

Laughing, Solid pulled the door open to retrieve it, only to be yanked back in by an irate Kaz, the door slamming shut. Solid looked at him in hurt confusion, until his eyes widened in understanding as he heard Higgins' familiar brisk clomp through the corridor.

"I was the top of every class they put me in, and they have me picking up after children." she muttered to herself angrily, evidently holding something that crinkled. "Me, a military woman through and through, basically a gloried babysitter." she continued, her footsteps leading her away, and finally out of earshot. David met Kaz's furious eyes apologetically.

"Really fucking things up tonight, huh?" he said, bending over to pick up his discarded shirt, mussing up his hair has he pulled it down. Wordlessly, he picked up Kaz's fallen crutch and held it out to him. Kaz took it and used it to maneuver himself into his chair, groaning in appreciation as he sat down.

David quietly opened the door, fully clothed this time, to retrieve Kaz's fallen beret. Kaz took it, perching it on his head, his sunglasses obscuring his expression.

"I'll go, then." Solid said flatly, turning to leave.

"No, don't." Kaz said, looking down at a stack of papers and picking up a pile to hand David. "I really do need your help."

David took the small pile from him and settled into the armchair, back pressed into the afghan, where he remained for the rest of the evening until dinner.

This incident would have been enough to shake the them, but not drive a wedge between them. Not on its own. No, the driving force between the rift came the very next day, when Solid slipped up.

                                                          * * *

Kaz was bellowing at them to help their partner through the obstacle course. On its own, the course was fairly simple, a short course with a rope climb, a mud crawl, and all the other trappings of a beginner boot camp course. The difficult part was the blindfold affixed over half the attendees. The pairs were teamed up alphabetically, so as not to afford an unfair advantage to good friends. David's eyes were uncovered, directing his partner, Harding through the course competently, but there was always room for improvement. Kaz feebly tried to convince himself that he'd chosen this set-up, David being the one on the sidelines, to improve David's communication skills, but in truth, he just didn't want anybody else but him seeing David with a blindfold on.

"To your right, Harding!" David called out, muscles unconsciously clenching in anticipation for hurdle. "A little more! Get ready to jump! No, not now, later! In a bit!" Solid yelled, nervous sweat dripping from his hairline.

"Half-assed instructions help no-one!" Kaz reprimanded him. He really did need to work on his communication skills, after all.

"Yes, K- Master Miller!" Solid said, a hand snapping to his temple, a slight blush rising in his cheeks. Horror shone from his eyes. The field grew quiet. Everyone knew how particular the Hell Master was about titles, how the Japanese side of him recoiled at the informal, familiar terms most people here referred to each other, even if they despised the other's guts.

Kaz froze. "Mr. Harding, stop. Stop. You can take the blindfold off. You two are done with this exercise. The rest of you, continue." He advanced on Solid, feeling like a cold hand was clenching around his intestines. He needed to punish Solid for the term, despite how much he enjoyed hearing him say it. How at home he felt.

The field filled with yelled instructions and thuds of bodies hitting the hard earth.

Swallowing, he cleared his throat. "What. The fuck. Did you. Just call me?" he spat with carefully inserted venom, glaring at David, who hadn't relaxed from his position. Harding was hovering, the blindfold pushed up on his forehead, unsure what to do. "Drop down. Give me 25 squat thrusts, now. No goddamn recruit can call me that."

"Yes, sir!" Solid immediately dropped to the ground, the sun warm against his back, discordant with the cool breeze blowing around him. He fell into a rhythm, dropping down, doing a single push up, leaping to his feet, straightening out, and repeating the whole ordeal.

"Hit the showers, Harding. You're done." Miller dismissed him without taking his eyes off of Solid. Harding thanked him and rushed off to the showers before he could change his mind.

David worked almost soundlessly, and occasional huff bursting from his mouth. After 30, panting, he stood before Kaz, a hand once more raised in salute.

"What do you think you're doing, soldier?" Master Miller asked, deadly venom in his tone. "I only counted 20. Give me 10 more." He was going easy on him, if he was being perfectly truthful. He was scared, he realized, terrified of losing this relationship with him. He had to impress upon him the importance of not blowing this.

David gave him a bewildered look, but to his credit, he immediately complied. "Fine. You're done. Clean yourself up and then report to my office."

20 minutes later, David was apprehensively waiting outside Kaz's office. 30 minutes later, he let himself in and perched on the edge of the armchair. 45 minutes later, his dark hair nearly dry, he pulled the afghan off the back of the chair and pressed his face into it, breathing in deeply. An 1 hour later, he was fast asleep, the afghan curled into a tight ball in his arms.

A half hour after Solid fell asleep, Kaz came in, his heavy tread a testament to his pain. He felt like he needed to down an entire bottle of Advil to combat the throbbing in his limbs, but he paused when he spied the figure in his armchair. David, relaxed and asleep, a tiny spot of drool dotting the blanket that he had clutched in his limp arms, was nestled comfortably in his chair. Kaz shut the door quietly behind him, putting his forearm on the doorframe above his head and leaning against it, watching him slumber on. It was nice seeing him like this, completely shut off, unself-conscious and open. At peace.

"I love him," he thought, and then felt like he'd gotten punched in the gut. "I love him," he thought again. "I can't lose him, too. I can't." He choked out a bitter laugh. What, was he cursed, cursed to love everything with a certain set of genes, just DNA coded in a slightly different way? He couldn't deny that they - his former Boss and Solid - were incredibly different in some respects, but he also couldn't deny that David- No, Solid, was his clone. Meant to be a copy.  

But he loved him. And Kaz had to protect the things he loved, with fierce dedication and loyalty.

Kaz pushed off from the doorframe and gently removed the afghan from his arms, unfolded it, and laid it over him. He staggered over to his desk chair, sitting down in it heavily. "Let him sleep for now," he thought. "We can talk later."

A short while later, David awoke with a start, his limbs flailing out and getting trapped by the blanket tucked around him. He stood up hastily, the blanket dropping to the floor and looked wildly around, his breathing erratic.

Kaz, who'd been watching it with no small amount of amusement, turned back to the papers spread across his desk. "Had a good nap?" he inquired lightly, marking something on one of the papers.

Solid nodded, his breathing slowing when he realized where he was. Judging from the waning light, he'd suppose it to be around 5:30, maybe 6. Had he really slept that long?

"It's 17:47," Kaz said without looking up. So he had. "Sorry, sir." Solid said, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. "I guess I fell asleep." He picked up the afghan, refolding it and sliding it over the back of the chair again. He stood uncertainly, eyes on Kaz.

"So, why'd you call me here?" Solid asked. "If it's about the name thing, I swear it won't happen again. I'll just call you Master Miller or sir or whatever you want. No more slip-ups."

Kaz shook his head. "Let me finish this and then we'll talk."

"Here, let me help," David said, attempting to tug a few papers off the desk.

Kaz laid his hand flat across the papers, stopping him, his pen leaving a splotch of ink on his palm where the tip dug into his skin. "I got this. Just relax and wait."

"Sorry about falling asleep," Solid said after a beat. Kaz laid down his pen and looked up at him, sighing.

"David..." he said, tiredly.

"Sorry. I'll just, uh, sit." David sat back down on the still warm armchair, unsure what to look at. He finally settled on the single, small window. The blinds had always been drawn, as far back as Solid could remember.

Solid's gaze drifted over to Kaz, who was industriously scribbling things on the papers. He watched his soft mouth, now puckered in thought. He loved that mouth. That teasing, harsh, cruel, loving, soft mouth. He followed the Cupid's bow of his lips with his eyes and wished that he could feel it against him. Why had he gone and blown it in the field? What a stupid mistake. A stupid, childish mistake. Still, Kaz hadn't woken him up when he came in. Maybe this was a sign that he wasn't too upset about it. Yeah. Sure. That was it.

Kaz finally set the last paper down, tugging his glasses off and rubbing his eyes with the knuckles of his hand. With a heaving sigh, he stood up and walked around his desk, leaning against it. He carefully replaced the glasses, surveying David through the tinted lenses. Solid began to stand up, but Kaz waved him down.

"David... Solid, that can't happen. What happened out there CAN'T happen. But it did. As we knew it had to."

David tensed at the sound of his nickname. It was not a good sign. "I know, sir, I know. I was just so flustered, and Harding was about to hit- Well, anyway, I can just call you Master Miller, I don't have to call you Kaz!" Solid said, his desperation making it sound a lot more pleading than this conversation had sounded in his head. "I don't have to even touch you, I just- I just like being around you. That's all. Just let me continue coming here, Master Miller." David swallowed the please that had threatened to pop out. No reason to look more pathetic than he already had.

Kaz watched David flounder for words without offering help. He opened his mouth, wanting to say that he liked it when he called him Kaz, he liked it when he said his name. It was like a mixture of something new and exciting and also something familiar and comforting when David said his name. Instead he sighed and rubbed his eyes again, replacing the glasses on his nose carefully. He shifted his position to face Solid better.

"That can't happen," he said again. "I thought you could handle being with me in two separate capacities, but I guess not. You're just too young. You're not mature enough yet." It was unfair of him to say these things, but Kaz was trying to hurt him. Trying to make David angry enough to storm out, to leave. That way it wouldn't be just his fault when this thing between them ended. His chest ached. His throat was tight. He watched as his words hit Solid, as they crumpled his spirit just a little more.

David stood up suddenly, unable to stay seated. His horrified eyes tried to see beneath the glasses, and his hand snaking out to wrap around Kaz's wrist, pulling him forward, rough fingers pressing into his pulse. "Sir! You were right! This was just a tiny mistake, and-"

"Tiny mistakes are what get you killed in the battlefield." Kaz said flatly, ignoring the pain in his chest and the tightness in his throat. He twisted his wrist to break David's hold on his wrist. David let the empty hand fall to his side, looking like his heart was breaking.

"Sir. Kaz!" he said, and then he lurched forward, locking his hands around the back of Kaz's neck to pull him into a deep, desperate kiss. It felt different than the one that had happened in the hallway the day previous. Yesterday, it felt like something bright and aflame, like they couldn't keep the fire contained within themselves and had to share the burden. Today, it felt like the ending of something. The harsh ending of something that didn't want to end. Kaz sighed into the kiss, pushing back, knowing what must happen.

He pressed his only hand into the small of David's back, pushing it up to lightly clasp his neck briefly before letting it slide back down. Kaz's gut twisted as he slid his hand to David's front, pushing firmly against his middle. David pulled away, his eyes at half-mast, confused by the abrupt cessation.

"Kaz...?" he questioned, tilting his head to the side, his hands still wound tightly around his neck.

Kaz glanced at those eyes, so blue, so open, before determinedly looking away, extricating himself from David's warm grasp and taking an unsteady step back. "Maybe we shouldn't. Not right now."

Pain passed over David's face, but he started to take a step forward nonetheless. Kaz held up a hand, keeping him at arm's length. David stopped, his wounded look intensifying.

"We shouldn't? You don't want me around anymore?" Solid's quiet voice even lower than usual, barely above a rough whisper.

Kaz swallowed everything that he wanted to say in reaction, the corrections, the insistences that he DID want him around, needed him around, that he felt fuller, whole, when Solid was silently working by his side. He schooled his face into the coldest expression he could muster. "No, I don't. At least, not for awhile." he tacked on, unable to bear the note of finality in his own voice.

"I see." David said, his chin dropping, almost touching his chest. "I see," he said again, turning around and opening the door.

Kaz roughly yanked him back. "What are you doing?! Somebody could see."  

David wrenched his arm back, not looking at him. "With all due respect, SIR, it's 1800 hours. I'm a recruit. They know that you're just my instructor, reaming me out for my multitudes of mistakes."

And with that, he left, the door shutting behind him with a decisive click. Kaz slowly lowered his hand, which was still outstretched. Trying to ignore the emptiness hollowing out his insides, he turned, fully intending to go back to work, to sit in his hard, unforgiving chair and stare at the tiny print of the official paperwork until he couldn't see past the fatigue. Instead, almost as if his body had a mind of its own, he sat down in the red armchair that David had just vacated. His warmth lingered, his distinct scent still hanging in the still air. Kaz leaned back, tugging the afghan down from the back of the chair and draping it across his lap. He ignored the single tear that had slipped down past his aviators. This was as it should be. Recruit and instructor, clear lines that should not be crossed.

                                                               * * *

David was simply lying on his bed, staring up at the ceiling, his every muscle locked, tense enough to defend himself against every physical strike that could come his way. His dirty shoes were still on his feet, not that he much cared. He'd expected anger from Kaz. No, from Master Miller. He had thought he'd be furious at him for slipping up. He'd berate him for his stupidity. But not that. Not him carelessly calling him an immature child. David was barely fit to lick his boots. His goddamn boots.

He didn't move when Jeremy banged the door open, although he did tense slightly more if possible when Jeremy bounded into the room.

"There you are, man! You're going to miss dinner!" Jeremy greeted him, bounding over to stand next to his bed. "I thought maybe he'd killed you or something. It was weird, the Hell Master was pretty decent the whole time. I thought I'D have to kill you for fucking things up for the rest of us, but he was his normal hellish self. So what happened? Did you have to clean every shit-room in the house? Did you do 10000 push-ups while he sat on your back?"  

"No," David thought. "He did something much worse." Aloud, he said. "Nah, the usual. A disgrace. A cocky son-of-a-bitch that doesn't know how to quit. You know how it goes. I also can't go out tomorrow," he adding, lying apologetically on a sudden idea. The very last thing he wanted to do was go into town on Saturday with Jeremy and his rowdy friends now, despite his earlier anticipation. He'd been planning on getting Kaz a gift, something small, but useful. Like a new knife sheath, or a yellow scarf. Now he was just Master Miller, and recruits don't buy their superiors gifts unless everyone else is pitching in.

Jeremy groaned. "Aw, man, that fucking sucks. That sucks ass. You should go to him and try to change his mind. Offer to do a billion squat thrusts instead, or something."

Solid, seized by a powerful urge to set things right, sat up suddenly and swung his legs off the bed, Jeremy barely evading getting smacked in the head. "Yeah, you're right. I'll go ask him to change his mind right now." He dropped to the ground in a low crouch, ignoring the ladder. Jeremy whooped.

"You go, son!"

David walked briskly back down the path that led to the building that contained Kaz's office, resisting the urge to sprint. He wouldn't take no for an answer, not about this. He didn't know why, but Kaz and his time with him was the most important thing in his life right now. It even nearly overtook his desire to become an impressive operative, his lifelong dream. He needed Kaz, and he thought that maybe Kaz needed him, too. He just needed to make Kaz see it.

Solid swung open the door to the building, and saw the light eking out from beneath Kaz's door, orange-ish where it passed through the frosted pane. He marched up to the door and raised a hand to rap on it when he heard voices emanating from behind it. The glass was almost opaque, so he had no way of seeing who was there. He paused, wondering if he should knock now or hang out outside the building, waiting. Solid decided that depended on the content of the conversation and held his position, listening to see if it was important.

"...So where's your little groupie?" he heard Higgins' mocking voice say, her tone dripping with derision. Surprised, he rocked back on his heels.

"My groupie?" Kaz asked gruffly, his voice the low rumble it got to when he was only half paying attention.

"Yeah, you know, your groupie. About this tall, blue eyes, eagerly waits on you, hand and foot."

"Oh, you mean Dav- Solid? His work here is done for awhile." Kaz said quickly. His voice sounded distinctly more interested in the conversation now.

"Huh. Is "work" all he does here?" Solid heard the smirk framing her words, and the hand still raised to knock clenched into a fist. "Come on, now, Commander."

"And what do you mean by that?" Kaz asked coldly. A rustle of papers came from behind the door, and he wasn't sure if Kaz had set papers down or picked them up.

"Come on, don't pretend you don't know what I mean. I've heard the stories. You don't care much either way what someone's got down in their pants, so long as you're in them, too. Don't pretend you didn't notice how attractive he is. That hair, with those eyes? Not to mention his hard little body."

David flushed in humiliation, and he heard the rough sound of Kaz standing up and slamming his crutch down onto the ground. "Please stop talking about the recruits that way. We could be dismissed for talking this way."

"Who's going to dismiss you? You're far too valuable. Besides, I'm not talking about the recruits. I'm talking about DAVID. He'd been good in the sack, don't you think? He's probably gotten a whole lot of practice, with that flirty tongue he's got on him." Higgins laughed suggestively, and David could just make out a blurry silhouette that he assumed was Higgins standing up.

Kaz gave a dismissive snort. "In the sack? Please. He'd be a good, quick fuck and that's that. He'd probably want you to take care of him afterward, too. Who's got the time to coddle their fuck-buddies these days?"

David took an unwilling step back, a gasp stuck in his throat. Fuck-buddies? "At least be didn't say "child" this time." he thought bitterly, hot tears threatening to spill. He swallowed them back, refusing to let them fall.

"OK, OK, so young and willing isn't your thing. How about you and me, for old time's sake?" He heard Higgins' footsteps creak across the floor, imagined her rubbing a hand across Kaz's hard, warm chest. Or was she already lower than that? "Old time's sake"? Why did they even have an "old time's sake"?

"Higgins, please." he heard Kaz say, his crutch banging against the floor again. At least he had the decency to refuse her, with the wound still fresh and open between them. Solid lowered his fist, then raised it again, torn between bursting in and confronting them and simply leaving, pretending that he'd never heard this vile, insulting conversation.

His choice was stripped from him when the door was suddenly yanked open, Kaz evidently closer than he'd previously assumed. Kaz was clearly showing Higgins the door, having not even looked out yet, but he turned when he saw Higgins' taken aback expression. He took in David's expression, red with shame and betrayal, with dawning horror and comprehension.

"David! What're you doing here?" Kaz asked, his face conveying shame and alarm.

"I simply wanted a clarification on one of my duties. I didn't know that you were busy, Master Miller. I'll come by tomorrow, then. Sir, ma'am." With a curt nod and salute, Solid left, his face still glowing with shame, but his countenance otherwise blank. It was as though a steel door had dropped, obscuring his emotions from view. "I was wrong," Kaz realized. Solid could shut away his emotions, not letting others in. The only reason Kaz had been able to read him so easily was because Solid had trusted him with them. A fresh wave of shame washed over Kaz as he watched Solid march away, his back stiff.

As Solid exited the building, heard Higgins' voice trail into the hallway behind him. "Whoops. Sorry for upsetting your boyfriend."

                                                          * * *

The next day, all Solid wanted to do was lie in bed until Monday's combat practice, but the painful gnaw in his stomach forced him out of bed. He hadn't gone down to dinner last night, not wanting to risk running into Master Miller. He'd told Jeremy of his "bad news" involving his trip the next day and waved him off when he offered to walk with him down to the mess hall, claiming stomach pains. It wasn't a lie. A tightness had invaded his middle, but it was almost less painful than the cold emptiness that followed it. As soon as Jeremy left with a shrug, letting the door shut behind him, Solid stripped down to just his boxers, not bothering to change into pajamas. He lied atop his bed completely still for a bit before he allowed the sobs to rack his body, feeling weak and pitiful with snot smeared halfway to his ear and his stomach caving in with the force of his sobs.

Was that truly how Kaz saw him? A recruit, good for a quick fuck, nothing else? No attachments? He'd thought that they, lacking a suitable replacement for the cliche, had something. A bond, he supposed. What were all of their 3 hour long talks about? Were they flat out lies, something to mask the silence? He'd felt safe in the silence with Kaz, comforted and relaxed in it, even. Now he knew the truth. After awhile, feeling like a blown out eggshell, he pushed himself up, his head pounding and his throat dry. He yanked some tissues out of his little plastic package, tearing them, wiping off his face and blowing his nose noisily, the room deserted. No one cared that he was crying his eyes out over a man who looked at him with apparent disdain and dismissiveness.

Kaz's voice, cold and unfeeling, permeated his consciousness. "Please. He'd be a good, quick fuck and that's that. He'd probably want you to take care of him afterward, too. Who's got the time to coddle their fuck-buddies these days?"

He'd gotten up, thrown away the sopping Kleenexes in the trash can, pausing before getting back into bed and squatting to tug the carton of cigarettes he'd hidden beneath Jeremy's mattress, pulling out a slightly squashed pack and a lighter and climbed back up into his bunk and mechanically pulled the covers over him, lying on his side and facing the wall. Unbidden, the memory of lying exactly like this on Kaz's chest, his hand tangled in his light colored chest hair and Kaz's rough hand gently stroking his head. Perfectly content. He flipped on his back, a huff of annoyance leaving his dry mouth. That wasn't how you behaved to quick fucks, was it? He cursed his nature, always reserved in matters involving other people. Maybe he wouldn't be so clueless, so heartbroken. The way he looked at it, his business was his business and others should follow suit. He didn't understand the point of sharing your feelings very often. Except with Kaz. He'd given him his heart, practically forced it into his capable hand, and Kaz had tossed it carelessly to the ground, grinding it beneath his unforgiving boot.

Solid sat up and yanked a cigarette free of the package, pressing it in between his lips and lighting it, allowing the ashes to fall haphazardly across his sheet, plumes of smoke unfurling and winding around his head. He held the lighter tightly, his knuckles turning white in his grip, letting the fire burn and watching the flames flicker brightly until his thumb grew painfully hot. Solid chain-smoked three before finally putting the lighter away and brushing the cigarette butts and ashes into a tissue, dropping it beside his pillow and flopping back down.

He pretended to be asleep when the tired cadets entered the room, ignoring the shaking of the bed as Jeremy carelessly climbed onto it. He fell asleep long after snores filled the room, and when he did, confused dreams of crutches and quiet sighs chasing him around a battlefield filled his mind.

He did not visit Master Miller.

                                                           * * *

Monday, the days finally growing colder despite being well into fall, dawned, cold and unforgiving. David felt like frozen crap, but no complaints issued from him. He got up, ate breakfast, and performed his morning drills with his usual talent, completely focused on his objective.

In close quarters combat when reloading, he paired up with Kirsten, absently thinking that maybe she'd go easy on him for helping her that one time. She did not.

He grunted when he was pounded into the mat, the air rushing out of his lungs as Kirsten shoved an unrelenting knee into his back, fake pistol's butt jammed into his shoulder, leaving yet another bruise. "Kristen, I'm not actually trying to kill you. You can ease up a bit," he huffed out, winded.

Kirsten bounded up from his back and offered him a hand covered in calluses with a grin. "I know, but aren't we training for the inevitability that someone will?"

David rolled over and bounced up, taking her hand and trading positions with her, getting ready to slam her into the ground. "You sure are a good actress," he remarked, before leaping at her.

At the end of the lesson, sore but feeling better then he had all weekend, he walked out with Kirsten.

"So, are you pleased to have a break from the Hell Master?" she asked slyly.

Solid tensed visibly. "Why would I need a break from him?"

Kirsten looked at him with surprise. "Did I hit your head too hard back there? He's been riding on you ever since you helped me!"

Solid relaxed. "Oh, yeah. Definitely glad to be shot of him for a while. Maybe I can flunk this course and retake it."

Kirsten laughed and nudged his shoulder. "And risk your flawless record? Please. You'd die of cardiac arrest before you did that."

Solid laughed, too, nudging her back.

                                                            * * *

The rest of the week fell into a familiar routine. Solid woke up, did his drills and duties, did everything expected of him. The only thing that deviated from the routine he'd had before Master Miller was the fact that he entered the mess hall only briefly to grab food, either wolfing it down at top speed or opting instead to grab something to go and eating it on the steps leading up to the recruits' bedroom.

He didn't see Miller once, not even in passing.

Finally, Saturday arrived, cold and bright, and Solid felt better than he had the previous Saturday. He got up and dressed in his workout clothes, a hole-riddled black tank top bearing a Black Widow emblem and olive drab shorts, and tied an old, worn out bandana around his forehead to catch the sweat. He stole some food from the mess hall, and made his way down to the gym, clutching a power bar and a banana, 3 water bottles tucked under his arm, a towel slung over his shoulder.

Solid was surprised to find the gym devoid of people. Didn't anybody else think to spend their Saturdays fighting for that shaky calm, that release, that you get after pushing your muscles to the breaking point?

He went to work right away, first stretching out his muscles in preparation for the intense workout ahead. Solid began on the punching bag, working on getting it to recoil in a steady rhythm. Than he moved on to the large, stationary pillar, practicing his kicks. After 15 minutes of that, he sunk to the mat, sitting cross legged on it, uncapping a water bottle and downing in one long gulp, his throat smoothly undulating as he swallowed.

With a sigh, he set the empty bottle on the ground beside him and eased onto his feet, moving on to the treadmill to work on his stamina.

                                                           * * *

On Saturday morning, Kaz cracked open a single eye, his head pounding in protest of the amount of liquor he'd consumed the night previous, his hand laying across his bare abdomen. With a groan, he tried to push himself up. Using the truncated arm. He flopped his head back down on his warm pillow, both eyes open, staring at fuzzy wall before him. He hadn't tried to use his phantom limb in a long, long while. This thing with David had really fucked him up. Or maybe he was still drunk from the night before.

He eased up, swinging his legs over the side of his bed, one side of his bed cold and bare.

Kaz sighed and rubbed his hand over his weary eyes. He really ought to get to the gym today. He could kill himself with the things that he put in his body, but god damn him if he would allow himself to go soft. Plus, he needed the release of physical activity.

He drew in a shaking breath, then pulled the jar of ointment he put on his leg towards him, taking the lid off and dipping two fingers into it gingerly, drawing his leg over his knee to spread the substance over the stump. He finished and wiped off his fingers with a tissue, tossing it into the trash can across the room. He slipped his aviators over his ears, felt the familiar weight settle on the bridge of his nose. Kaz picked up the prosthetic and hooked himself into it, standing up. He grimaced at the bitterly familiar twinge his leg gave as it settled into the fake leg. He limped heavily over to the crutch, which he'd stupidly left leaning by the door the night before. Kaz hated drunk Kaz. What a careless asshole.

Kaz made his way over to the bathroom, getting ready for the day. He swallowed a couple of Advil with a handful of water on his way out, then changed into his workout clothes, his stomach forgoing the idea of eating anything more substantial than a smoothie. He poured himself a glass of pineapple juice, watching the TV, which he'd left on the news the night before. He sipped it as the news-anchor cooed with false joy about a woman in Kentucky living with an entourage of alpacas in her home. Shaking his head, he switched it off, the TV hot beneath his fingers from being left on overnight.

His head still hurting, Kaz left and locked the door behind him, trying to decide what he'd do today. Maybe he'd go easy on himself, do some simple stretches and then maybe some crunches. Pull-ups were difficult, but manageable. Maybe he'd go a few rounds on the pillar. He had some excess aggression. Kaz could make that work for him for once. Make it useful.

He rounded the corner, in front of the gymnasium now, swinging the door open. Kaz rubbed his hand across the back of his neck, bowing his head as he tried to work out the kinks, leaning against the wall briefly.

Gripping his crutch and rolling his shoulders, he marched down the hall, his workout shoes squeaking on the linoleum.

Kaz felt a shock course through his system as he saw a very familiar, sweaty figure on the treadmill, his feet pounding into the conveyor belt, sweating bouncing off of him and splattering around him. His black tank top clung to him, the red of the hourglass darkened with sweat. A dark blue bandana was tied around his head, the ends flicking behind him with every forceful movement. Kaz felt as though somebody had dunked him in cold water, more vividly awake and alert than he had been all week.

David had been avoiding him, he knew. He saw the way he tore through food, snagging prepackaged things off of the table, just so he could eat alone, not meeting anyone's eyes. Kaz had considered calling out to him, knowing that Solid would obey his order, no matter what he felt about him personally. He was a good, dedicated solider. He would listen. And Kaz hated (and hated that some part of him loved) having that power over him. So he'd stayed away.

He watched David run, his pace quick but reasonable. Kaz recognized the exercise as one of endurance, not of speed. He knew the instant David saw him. He saw him and temporarily froze, nearly slipping off, stumbling. Kaz lurched forward to offer his hand, but Solid had it under control, his hands snapping to the handles and steadying himself until he could be trusted without them. David stared straight ahead of him, effectively ignoring him. Kaz didn't blame him. He'd said saw awful things about him to Higgins, trying to throw her off. He didn't know how much, exactly, David had heard, but it was enough. Enough for Solid to avoid him for a week. Enough for him to refuse to eat wherever he might be. And wasn't that what should happen, what he had wanted to happen?

Kaz looked away, wondering what the red hourglass meant. He decided to ignore him, too, although it proved near impossible to do so. He felt like his back was on fire, that David's blue eyes were boring into him, though when he glanced back, David was still pointedly looking away from him. He began his stretches, closing his eyes and seeing Solid's betrayed face imprinted on the black of his eyelids.

Awhile after Kaz started his pull-ups, he dimly heard David stop the treadmill, but he didn't open his eyes, grunting and sweating from the extreme exertion lifting his entire body weight on his single arm, his legs crossed at the ankle. He dropped to the ground, maneuvering himself into a sitting position, his bad leg stretched out in front of him and his good leg bent. He leaned his head back, panting. He heard footsteps, and he turned his head, opening his eyes.

David loomed before him, offering him an unopened bottle of water, his eyes miraculously focused on him. Kaz's mouth parted further in shock.

Solid shook the water bottle. "Here, take it. You'll get dehydrated."

Kaz accepted it with a murmured thanks, twisting the lid off and drinking deeply. He emptied it to the halfway point and handed it back. David took it and drank from it without bothering to wipe off the mouth, finishing it in one prolonged gulp, fascinating Kaz with the smooth movement of his throat.

David tossed the bottle next to another empty one, rolling his shoulders. He looked over to Kaz, making direct eye contact with him, and dropped into a set of 25 perfectly executed squat thrusts. Kaz chuckled.

While David squat thrusted, he arranged himself on the ground, getting ready to do crunches. He struggled to keep his feet planted on the ground as he twisted his middle to meet his knees. The thump of David's workout punctuated every crunch, weirdly in time with Kaz's movements. There was a final thump, and then just the panting of David.

Kaz was mentally taken back to the last time he'd made him pant like that outside of the field. They'd been in Kaz's office, of course, with the old afghan beneath them. Kaz had been working on getting David's pants off, he himself already stripped down to his underwear, his erection obvious through the thin fabric. He'd been tonguing and sucking every inch of torso that was normally obscured by clothing. David had been moaning needfully, writhing against his ministrations, begging for more. He had just taken everything off of David's flushed body when David had pulled him down in a sudden kiss.

"Kaz. I'm ready. You can- We can try." Kaz's breath caught in his throat. He knew what David was saying.

"You sure?" His desperation to do this obvious from the strain in his voice, his mouth dry. David had nodded, shut his eyes. Kaz had pulled off his own underwear quickly, arranging himself over him. David held comparatively still, his hand finding Kaz's hard dick, stroking it, feeling the sticky wetness. Slowly, he worked his index and forefingers into David's tense hole.

"Hey," he had said, nudging David with his knee. "Relax. It'll work better."

Panting, David had nodded, and visibly tried to relax. Kaz had experimentally rotated his fingers, relishing the shudder David gave, the slight stumble in his careful strokes. "Am I hurting you?" he had asked, whispering. David shook his head, his dark hair flopping on his forehead. They had gone on like this, Kaz gingerly moving his fingers, gauging his reaction before proceeding. He finally found David's sweet spot, and he had moaned so loudly that Kaz was certain it could be heard from the hallway beyond, despite the hand that David had pressed to his mouth, his back arching off of the floor. His hand on Kaz's dick sped up, frantically massaging him. All it took was a little bit more stroking, and they had both climaxed. Kaz was disappointed in his own lack of control and was fully for trying again, but he didn't miss David's look of relief. So he hadn't press the issue, he had just crawled up and laid down next to David, who pulled him into a long, lazy kiss, almost mind-numbingly sweet compared to before.

Kaz laid on the ground, his knees pressed together to disguise the fact that he was half-hard from the memory. He hadn't even noticed Solid squatting next to him, rubbing a towel over his dark hair and body.

"You need help, sir?" he asked, still wiping sweat off of himself.

Kaz opened his eyes, thinking of David's betrayed face, that awful feeling in his stomach, and let the arousal slip away. "Think you can hold me down? My feet, I mean." he clarified, almost coloring at the implications of what he had said. He wished David would call him Kaz.

David nodded, bracing his hands over Kaz's worn out sneakers, the ends of his bandana brushing Kaz's knee briefly. Kaz grunted, finding it much easier to do this properly with some resistance pushing him down. He twisted his body, alternating on each crunch, working out his core. David was silent as Kaz completed 50 of them, twice as many as he would have had David not been there. He just wanted someway to keep him close. But the pain of his fake leg rubbing on his real leg grew to unbearable amounts, and his abdominal muscles were burning.

As soon as the, "I'm done," issued from his mouth, David had let go of his feet as though he'd been burnt. David turned to go, and for the first time he noticed the dark bruises marring the light skin of his muscled back, starkly visible. He felt a flare of betrayed anger, of jealousy. It'd been what, a week? And David had already moved on to better and greater things? To younger things?

He pushed himself into a sitting position as David left to gather his food. "You want to go, one on one? A little CQC, on the mat?"

David paused in his unwrapping of the power bar, looking at him, considering his challenge. "With or without the crutch?" he asked, taking a bite of of his bar.

"With," Kaz answered, his pride bruised from the question.

David slowly nodded, stood up. He covered the bar again and crossed to pick up his crutch, then offered his hand to Kaz. "Sir?" he asked politely. Kaz took it, allowed himself to be hauled upwards, enjoying his first skin to skin contact with him in a week. He was fairly certain he'd had been suffering withdrawal symptoms.

"2 out of 3?" he inquired, and Solid nodded his approval, planting his feet and going into a half crouch. Kaz adjusted his grip on his crutch, watchful eyes on Solid's ready body.

"Don't worry, I'll go easy on you." he called, never able to resist teasing him.

Solid's jaw tensed, and he replied, "You'd better not," 

"Hey, whatever you want. You want your ass served up on sliver platter, be my guest." Kaz chuckled. He waited for Solid to make a move. He was just about to suggest a count when Solid lunged at him, going for a simple chokehold. Kaz evaded it without much difficulty. Solid spun around, looking for an opening. Kaz formed a plan, and waited patiently for a chance to implement it. He perfected his total balance on his right leg, tightening his grip on the now unnecessary crutch.

It came. David lunged at him, and Kaz leaned out of the way, quickly using Solid's momentary distraction to use his crutch to knock into the weak backs of Solid's knees, flooring him. Solid hit the ground hard, his back smacking into the ground and sending the air shooting from his lungs. Kaz dove on top of him, straddling him and pressing the crutch into his throat, not hard enough to hurt, but firmly enough to make him overtly aware of his presence.

"One for me then," Kaz said smugly, his glasses slipping down his nose enough for Solid to see half of his irises over the tops of the amber lenses.

"You cheated," David panted, a frown gracing his face. 

"Well, you did warn me not to go easy on you." Kaz reminded him, rolling his hips suggestively against his middle, knowing that that was a risky move, unnecessarily dangerous and gratuitous, and yet he couldn't stop himself. He missed David. Kaz removed the bar from his throat, using the crutch to push himself up and regretfully off of Solid. Solid rolled to his feet, bouncing up, conceding his point.

It was on.

Solid feinted to the side, and then dove into Kaz's temporarily unprotected side, Kaz having lifted his crutch to shift his position. He wrapped his strong arms around his middle, pulling Kaz on top of him to protect him from the fall, careful of his sore points. He gently but swiftly rolled over, still clutching Kaz tightly. He was on top now, and he pressed down lightly.

"I win." he said, than sprang up, leaving Kaz to struggle to his feet.

"Tiebreaker," Kaz stated, slightly winded, adjusting the glasses that had gone askew in the tumble.

David nodded, something off about his features. Solid struggled to maintain an air of friendly rivalry as anger and betrayal and loneliness rolled around in his gut.

Kaz cocked his head to the side, trying to discern what was different about him, but the moment passed and Solid was in a dangerous mood. Kaz scanned Solid's stance, trying to think of counter moves he could make, wanting to be the one to initiate the fight, but knowing that was dangerous with his crutch, so he hung back.

Solid tried feinting again, but Kaz was ready. He stepped back and to the side, letting Solid barrel pass him. Kaz landed a solid hit to David's side, causing him to spring away. They went on like this, landing glancing blows on each other, this final fight lasting far longer than the other two. They pivoted, lunged, but nothing stuck.

Until Solid found an opening and tore it open further, clawing his way through. He ended up straddling Kaz, who was flat on his back, their earlier pose reversed. Kaz laughed. "OK, you win, you won it fair and square."

Solid didn't get up, just stayed there, staring at the man trapped beneath him, his chest rising and falling rapidly. Kaz's glasses had slipped down his nose, and Solid tugged them off, setting them on the ground beside them. "You won," Kaz repeated, his voice considerably lower than it had been.

Solid leaned in, his lips parted. Kaz tilted his head in response, wondering if he was going to kiss him. He knew he should be up and berating Solid over the public location, but he couldn't bring himself to care. He missed David so much. He just wanted to see him laughing again, carefree and trusting.

Instead of kissing him, he leaned in closer to his ear, so close his lips were practically brushing against it. David was so close that the ends of his navy bandana tickled Kaz's cheek. "Pretty good for somebody who's only good for a quick fuck, huh, Master Miller?" And then he was up, drying himself off with his already damp towel.

He offered it to Kaz, who took it gratefully. He struggled into a sitting position, David already uncapping his last bottle of water, sitting on the bench that ran along the wall of the gym. The pain in his voice. The venom. Kaz pressed his face into the towel, then scrubbed at his arms. He snatched up his glasses and replaced them back on his nose before pushing himself to his feet.

"May I sit?" Kaz asked, gesturing to the spot beside him.

David shrugged. "Sit wherever you want, Master Miller. You're the boss."

Kaz frowned. "But what do you want?"

David looked up at him, and picked up the power bar beside him, re-peeling the wrapper with pedantic care. "Sure." he said finally, before taking a bite.

Kaz settled down beside him, leaning the crutch against the bench, his thigh almost touching David's, but not quite bridging the gap. He leaned against the wall, happy to rest a moment. He stretched out his bad leg, the prosthetic bothering the tender skin of his leg from all of the motion. He stared at the fabric of his workout pants, where the elastic cuff of the pant leg clung to his fake leg.

David passed him the water bottle wordlessly, still chewing. Kaz took a few greedy gulps of the water before passing it back to Solid, knowing that he would most likely need something to wash the dry power bar down with. David swallowed his last bite, then drained the bottle.

He picked up the banana beside him and offered it to Kaz, who shook his head. Despite the workout surprisingly calming his stomach somewhat, he still had no desire to eat. Shrugging his bruised shoulders, he unpeeled it and took a big bite. Kaz turned his head to watch him eat it, following his movements with interest. His eyes followed the line of his back, looking at the dark bruises imprinted there. Who were they from? Who dared to mark up _his_ David like that?

When Solid finished, he sighed and stood up, gathering up his garbage. He held out his hand for the towel that Kaz still had laid across his lap.

"No, I've got it. I'll carry it for you." Kaz said, clutching it. "I'll follow you out, hang on." He began to prepare to heave himself up, but Solid shifted the garbage in his arms to one side and offered his hand again. Clasping it, Master Miller was pulled into a standing position. Slinging the towel over his shoulder, he grabbed the crutch.

Solid began walking away from him, glancing behind him to see if he was following. Kaz followed him to the door, waiting as he dumped the trash off at the bins. David gently took the towel off of Kaz's shoulder and leaned back, his hand on the door handle. "Well, thanks for the sparring session, Master Miller. I enjoyed it." he said, with a small but genuine grin.

"No problem. I enjoyed myself, as well. You're good, David." Kaz didn't miss the tension that ran through him when he used his real name. He didn't realize how deeply his words to Higgins had hurt him until that moment, when David had recoiled at his name. Something inside him snapped. This was all his fault.

"Ah, well, thanks, Master Miller. You're talented, as well. Well, sir, I'd rather like to not be drenched in my own sweat, I'd best be off to the showers. You can probably smell me from over there." Solid said, with a tight laugh, so unlike the delighted, full body one that Kaz adored that it hurt.

"You smell fine to me, Solid. I should probably hit the showers, too." he said, mirroring his tight chuckle. He took pains to say his nickname this time. With a final nod, David turned to go. Kaz watched him, the tightness in his throat unbearable.

"Solid," he called out suddenly, unable to take it any longer. He needed to see him. Alone. But when David turned around, walking backwards, his light eyes on Kaz, the order for David to meet him at his office died in his throat. He knew that Solid would show up if he ordered him to. That was perhaps the hardest part. "Just... Enjoy your shower. You've earned it."

With a confused look, David nodded again, then took off to the locker room.

Kaz let out a groan of frustration from between clenched teeth. "Enjoy your shower?" Real fucking smooth, Miller. That'll fix the boy's broken heart. Your concern about his enjoyment level of a shower.

Stalking away, not treating his leg as carefully as he should, he spotted Jeremy Downes loping over the grass like he had not a care in the world. He had a tie to Solid. Making up his mind, he stopped and called out, "Mr. Downes! Come here!"

                                                           * * *

Solid walked to the locker room, finding it empty aside from one cadet whose name he didn't know showering in the corner. He nodded to him, never knowing what to do in these situations. Do you say hi? Do you simply ignore each other? Is that rude? "Hey, man, I'm just going to remove all of my clothing and drench myself in water whilst touching my dirty, sweaty body intimately. It's all cool, bro."

Turning away from his shower companion, he quickly stripped off the sweaty, smelly clothing, his muscles sore, slipping his feet into Kristen's shoes. His thoughts turned to Kaz, as they almost invariably did these days. In some ways, he mused, seeing him was better than he'd thought it'd be. Almost a relief. Solid missed him, missed Kaz in his quiet moments, when he didn't see being softer and talkative as a vulnerability. When he spoke longingly of playing the guitar. His sometimes happy, usually not, reminisces of Japan.

He stepped into the shower, turning up the heat so much that it almost scorched him. Normally Solid took cold showers, but the heat felt nice on his tense, aching body.

And then, somehow, it was harder than he'd imagined it would be. Seeing him, working out with such singular concentration, the way he'd refused to let his amputations slow him down. In some ways, Solid thought that it was because of the limbs that were stolen from him that he pushed himself so hard. Maybe to prove to himself he was still the man he used to be.

He'd watched Kaz's strong arm pull himself up, his entire weight distributed on one overexerted arm. Solid had noted with a pang of desire the wells of his hips when his shirt rode up, his body shining with sweat. Remembered when he used to be allowed to touch that body, his wandering hands almost never denied.

Swallowing the hard lump in his throat, he finished showering, toweled off. He looked around for the man who'd been in there before, but he was gone. Solid hadn't noticed him leave. He was getting sloppy. Cursing himself and his stupid lovesick brain, he shoved the shoes into the locker, pulling out mercifully dry, clean clothes.

As he exited the locker room, he was almost immediately accosted by Jeremy.

"There you are, man! You take a bath or something? You were in there for almost a half hour!" Jeremy admonished him, smacking a hand into his shoulder.

"And is there a reason as to why you're timing my hygiene practices?" David asked, raising a brow.

"Not that I need one, but Master Miller told me to tell you to meet him in his office. Actually, he told me to emphasize that he "requested your presence" and that you were "free to ignore his summons". Honestly, dude, as if there's a choice. He also said that it was urgent. He was being weirdly intense. Weirder than usual."

David listened intently, unable to stop the little flip of excitement he still felt whenever somebody told him that Master Miller needed him. Kaz was giving him a choice, was he? Solid knew that he'd show up. Knew that he'd come when beckoned. But that didn't mean that he'd hop to it. He'd take his time.

"Wanna go down to the mess hall with me?" David asked Jeremy, already making his way toward a carton of vital chocolate milk. Jeremy's mouth hung open.

"Solid, do you WANT to get kicked out?" Jeremy spluttered, following him helplessly.

"What? I'm going to go. I just need to get a chocolate milk. I had a hard workout this morning. My muscles need rejuvenation." Still shaking his head, Jeremy followed him, muttering that Solid had a death wish and that either him or Master Miller would indulge him with it.

After he finished his chocolate milk, sipping at a leisurely pace just to piss off Jeremy, he went to Kaz's office, his stomach tight with trepidation.

Raising his fist, he knocked once, twice, three times with no answer, no grumbled reply. Cautiously, he opened the door and poked his head inside. "Sir?" he said, looking around the empty room.

Kaz was no where to be found. Feeling a stab of anger pierce his heart, he considered just leaving, just turning and walking away. It was a heady feeling, knowing that he could just turn and go, and leave this pain in here, trapped in the small office. But he knew that the pain wouldn't stay put, knew that it'd travel with him. So he allowed curiosity guide him into the horribly familiar office.

For a moment, Solid's eyes rested on the afghan tossed in the armchair in the corner. It was crumpled on it, an end of it nearly touching the floor. Solid averted his eyes. That was not as he'd left it.

"Maybe he fucked Higgins on it, too," he thought bitterly. "Or Jeremy. Maybe he just does everything that breathes and moves around."

He strode over to behind the desk, boldly meaning to sit down in Kaz's chair until he came back, unwilling to touch that familiar blanket, but he paused as his noticed the glint of picture frame that sat on the dresser behind Kaz's chair. He'd never noticed it before, Kaz always either sitting directly in front of it or distracting David to an excessive degree.

Solid picked it up, his hands gentle and careful not to leave any smudges on the polished silver frame. It was a picture of a haggard yet beautiful tiny Japanese woman with her arms around a little boy nearly as tall as she was, though the boy couldn't have been any older than nine or ten. The small boy had grayish eyes, though it was hard to tell from the faded quality of the photo, and shining blond hair nearly down to his shoulders.

"This must be Kaz and his mom," Solid realized, bowing his head to more closely examine the picture, looking for similarities between Kaz and his mother. There was something of her in the curve of his mouth, the shaping of his as of yet unprotected eyes, the way they tilted their head for the camera. He leaned against Kaz's desk, staring at the photo that he'd so carefully preserved.

He nearly dropped it when a low voice said behind him, "That's my Haha."

                                                          * * *

Kaz swore as he almost tripped again on his way back to his office. He'd walked past it without stopping twice now, not being able to face the man that hopefully awaited him in there. He didn't know what to say to fix, only that he needed to. He'd rather be kicked out than live in this hellish existence any longer. This was just a job, not an ideal to be working toward, not what Kazuhira believed in. He believed in other ideals, ideals of peace, of unity. This was just a a way to protect the soldiers of tomorrow, a way to let them live in this world a little longer before it consumed them whole and spat the bones out.

But Kaz needed David. And he didn't know what he would do if he wasn't waiting for him in there. Taking in a deep, steadying breath, he turned sharply, telling himself that it was time to suck it up and go in there, cowardice be damned. He was the one who'd set this up whole thing up, anyway. The one that had gotten them both in this mess. He'd be the one to right it.

Kaz slowly creaked open his door, feeling like he'd been punched in the gut when he saw the chair just as he'd left it, the blanket crumpled and almost dragging on the floor. Surely if David had been here, he'd've folded it. But then his eyes cut across the room, and was gratified and horribly relieved to see David behind his desk, head bent over something. Kaz stepped into the room, quietly admiring the curve of David's ass pushed against his desk, when he noticed what he was holding.

"That's my Haha," he said, gesturing to the picture, amused by the jump he had caused. David hastily set it back down on the the chest of drawers.

"She's beautiful," David murmured, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. Kaz followed the gesture with his eyes, falling in love with the sweep of his neck, the soft hair that barely brushed it, all over again. "I never noticed it there before."

Kaz walked around his desk, leaning next to Solid. He felt an immature rush of pleasure at the fact that Solid didn't shy away from the press of his amputated arm in his shoulder. "That's because it's usually kept in a drawer. I would've been far more upset had you know about its existence."

Kaz had gotten it out during the week, pushed to see the woman he had left behind in pursuit of a better life, though her health had already been failing at the time this photo had been taken. His gaze rested on the photo, staring instead at the younger Kazuhira. He'd been so self-conscious about his hair, he'd wanted to shave it off, but his mother hadn't let him. She loved his hair, trailing her fingers through it and braiding it at night, despite his childish protests. He had worn a baseball cap nearly everywhere to disguise what his mother called, "spun sunlight", later opting to wear sunglasses everywhere, too, to hide his oddly tinted eyes. He had continued wearing them when he'd gotten to the States, liking the layer of armor it provided, though he lost the baseball cap. Now he wore the sunglasses for a different reason.

They both stared at the photo silently, Kaz thinking of how just a couple short years after this photo had been taken, his mother had fallen prey to the illness she's contracted during her most desperate years, years devoid of anything but a way to find the means to stay alive. How he'd had to take over the business and the tender age of 10. Kaz had been a natural at the business side of things, always having a knack for it, despite his complete lack of experience. He thought of his mother, who'd always tried to do right by him, until she couldn't any more. David cleared his throat beside him, shaking him free of his melancholy reverie.

"So," David asked, shifting to see his face more clearly. "What'd you call me here for, Master Miller?"

"Master Miller," Kaz thought, hating the chill that stole into his middle at Solid's forced politeness, his unfamiliarity. "But it is my fault. I did pound it into him to call me that."

A flurry of questions leapt to his tongue. "Why won't you speak with me? How could I say those things about you? Why can't things just go back to how they were, when you would laugh and say my name, and I would smile back? Why'd I screw this up so badly? And most importantly, who left those goddamned bruises on your perfect back?" What he said was, "What was that symbol on your workout shirt?"

David blinked. "My workout shirt?"

"Yeah," Kaz said, trying not to cringe. "What does it mean? Is it a band?"

David laughed, not quite able to believe this turn in the conversation. "Um, it's the emblem of a comic book character. Black Widow?" At Kaz's blank expression, he elaborated. "She's a spy, part of an elite team of agents. She used to be a trained Russian assassin, but she defected to this group that defends the earth against all sorts of dangers. She's just a really good spy. A comic book spy." he finished, a little embarrassed at his addiction to any comic book with her in it. He also had a thing for red heads, but that wasn't her main allure. He liked that she was an ally of this super famous group and still managed to keep herself hidden from the spotlight.

Kaz smiled. "Huh. I didn't know you liked comic books. Never could get into them myself."

David shrugged. "I read the odd one, here and there." At the comic book store where he used to live, he was on a first name basis with every single employee. Sometimes they still sent him a copy of a particularly good new Black Widow comic.

They leaned against the desk in not entirely uncomfortable silence until Kaz cleared his throat. "Hey, come on."

David looked confused. "Where to, sir?"

"Sir," Kaz growled angrily in his head. Out loud, he said, "Just follow me."

David shrugged and straightened up. "I'll follow you, Master Miller."

Kaz nodded and pushed off from the desk. David politely opened the door for Kaz, then followed him.

Kaz glanced behind him every now and then as they trudged along the path to his private quarters, almost as if he was making sure that David was still following him. He always was. Occasionally, he would catch him burning a hole into the back of his head with his intense stare, but Solid always looked away before he said anything.

They climbed the the short stairway to his small apartment, Kaz withdrawing the key ring from his pocket with some difficulty, his crutch pinned to his side with his arm, the metal clinking loudly as he fumbled through it, finally unlocking the door. David followed him in with a slightly dubious expression.

"Take off your shoes," he said, tugging his own off with some difficulty. David complied, bracing a hand against the wall and using his feet to scrape the shoes off.

Kaz watched David scan his sparse apartment for a moment, taking in his muted blue, bare walls and his single love seat before locking the door and sliding the deadbolt into place.

"I'll get you something to drink." he grunted out, going to the open kitchen, taking two cups down from the cupboard one at a time before pouring them both a glass of cold pineapple juice. He turned back to David, who was staring into the open door of his bedroom with some curiosity.

He swallowed. "David?" Kaz called out, before mentally cursing himself as he watched the answering flinch. "Your drink's in here. I can't..."

David's eyes widened in understanding. "Oh, of course," It would be slightly difficult to avoid spilling any of the juice and use his crutch. Solid hurried in, picking up both glasses easily and jerking his head towards Kaz's love seat. "You want to sit?"

Kaz nodded in affirmation and went to it, sitting down heavily, leaning his crutch against the table. Solid joined him, sitting as far away as the tiny couch permitted. Though an admittedly small distance, it still hurt him to see it.

David cleared his throat and took a sip of the juice, an expression of surprise crossing his face at the taste. "Do you like pineapple juice?" Kaz asked uncertainly. "I didn't ask."

David shrugged. "Never had it before." he took another cautious drink, then downed the rest in one gulp. "It's pretty good," he decided, looking at his cup thoughtfully. Kaz offered him his glass, which he refused.

"So," Kaz began, unsure of where to start, before David plucked the nearly full glass from his hand, setting it on the stained coffee table in front of them. On a coaster, of course. "What're- " he started, before his mouth was crushed by David's, his mouth moving insistently against his. Kaz sat frozen in shock, before responding with verve, tasting the sticky sweet tang of pineapple juice of David's lips. David broke the kiss as roughly as he started it, turning his head away, breathing hard.

"Sorry. I just- " The rest of his words were buried as Kaz pulled him back, turning his head back to face him so that he could find his mouth. David pushed him back, almost as fiercely as he had during their CQC session, and Kaz slid sideways on to the couch, trying to get comfortable in this new, horizontal position. David ignored his shock and began rolling his hips firmly against Kaz's, who moaned and canted his hips upward for a better angle. David's mouth opened, and Kaz cautiously licked his bottom lip, tasting the tang of pineapple, not knowing how much David was comfortable with right now, but hardly caring. Not knowing what was happening at all. Solid moaned, and Kaz had his answer.

Kaz slipped his hand beneath David's shirt, rubbing his back, trying not to think about the bruises on it, sliding his hand to the front and pinching a nipple gently. Solid ground his hips against his more forcefully, breaking away from the kiss to take a breath. Solid moved from his mouth, kissing the corner of it before trailing his way down his jaw. His lips were more forceful, more pressing than usual, striking Kaz as odd, before the detail slipped his mind as Solid's right hand slid down the front of his pants, his other hand on his neck, directing him.

Kaz moaned loudly as Solid licked his neck, his hand still pressing against him through his boxer briefs. Kaz could feel David's erection, but David kept on smacking his hand away when he started to stroke it.

Kaz struggled to make sense of the situation. Finally, he ground out. "Why won't you let me touch you?"

David stopped everything he was doing and rocked back on his heels, Kaz enjoy the pressure almost unwillingly. "You want to touch me?" he questioned, his voice huskier than usual. It might have been the midday light and the tint of Kaz's sunglasses, but Solid's eyes looked dead, that lustful, flirtatious glimmer that was usually there when they did this gone. He had felt David's lust against his hips, but he didn't see much evidence of it on his face. He squinted at him, wondering if he needed a stronger lens.

"Dav- Solid, of course I want to touch you. Where are you going?" he asked, for David had carefully slipped off the couch to avoid painfully jostling him and handed him his crutch.

David paused, bare feet sunk into the carpet. "Giving you want you want," he said quietly, before padding into Kaz's bedroom.

"What the fuck..." Kaz muttered, struggling into a vertical position and standing up, pushing the crutch into the ground with the weight of his body. He had thought that they had a very nice thing going. After over a week apart, it was better then he could've expected without actually talking about any of the issues.

Kaz walked over to the bedroom, then almost choked at what he saw waiting for him patiently laying across his bed. Solid was sprawled out on his bed, propped up on his elbows, his pants in a crumpled pile on the floor. His legs were apart, his knees bent as if to give Kaz proper access. Oddly enough, his shirt was still on. Kaz's mouth went very dry.

"David... What are you doing?" he asked in a low voice, his pants incredibly uncomfortable. Why hadn't anyone designed erection proof pants? Either ones that could disguise when you had them or that didn't fucking choke you when you did, he wasn't picky.

Solid cocked his head to the side, as if nonplussed at the question. "You want me to ride you, right? Well, this is your chance. You got protection?"

Almost mechanically, Kaz walked over to the bedside drawer and tugged out a small square, hazily wondering if condoms could expire.

On the bed, David wiggled his ass expectantly. "I'm getting cold, Master Miller."

Kaz walked over to the bed and put a hand on his knee. "Do you want this?" he asked seriously.

David held his gaze for a second before averting his eyes. "I wouldn't be up here if I didn't want this." he said.

There was no need to tell Kaz twice. Kaz stripped off his pants gracelessly, sitting on the bed for easier removal. He threw his shirt on the ground, tossing the beret down with it. Kaz left his sunglasses on, though. He wanted to see this clearly. He tore open the package savagely before quickly rolling it over himself. He stood up and tugged David towards him, arranging David to better suit his needs. David allowed him to pose him dispassionately, though his dick was still very erect. Kaz leaned down to give him a deep kiss, David pushing into it with desperation before breaking it again, turning his head to the side. "Just get on with it," he said in a broken whisper.

Kaz blinked. David did not seem engaged in this activity at all, although his dick was brushing Kaz's bare middle at that moment. "You OK? You don't want any lubricant or anything?"

David shook his head, still resolutely looking at Kaz's wall. "Just do it. This is what you want, right?"

Kazuhira blinked and drew back, easing off of the bed. Than he began to line up with David, tentatively bumping himself against the crease between David's spread legs, who shuddered. And that's when Kaz saw it. A tear rolling down his cheek, glittering in the faint light. "David? David, what's wrong?" he asked urgently, leaning over him again.

David finally turned to face him, his blue eyes full of unshed tears, his lashes wet. "Why won't you just DO this?" he moaned frustratedly. "This is what you want! This is all you want. A quick fuck, to not have to deal with me later. That's all you want. And I'm giving it to you. Why won't you accept it?!"

Kaz stepped back, leaning his bad knee into the bed. "No, I don't want that. I never wanted that, not with you."

David pushed himself up fully. "That's not what you said to Higgins. So what, you don't want THAT or you just don't want ME? What, am I just a clingy kid to you? Were you just, what, humoring me?" David let out a bitter laugh. "Well, guess what, you don't have to deal with me anymore, Master Miller. I'm done." And with that, he leapt off the bed, searching blindly for his pants. Kaz, who had been silently listening, caught his wrist.

"The only reason I said that to Higgins was to throw her off! She was insinuating things between us! We can't have that!" Kaz said, angry and bewildered. "I said that to PROTECT us!"

David snorted, attempting to yank his wrist from Kaz's grasp, but finding it too strong to break. He gave up, letting Kaz hold it as he slipped into his pants. "Sure, us. Fine, whatever. I'm not even good enough for a fuck. Coming from you, that hurts." he said cruelly. "Let go of my fucking hand. Let me at least do up my fly, let me at least have that dignity."

"David! You're not a goddamn child. It WAS for us, we could both be dismissed. I fucking love you!" Kaz said in a frustrated growl, barely aware of the words that were slipping from his lips. David froze, straightening up, his arm going limp in his tight grip. Kaz sucked in a breath, realizing what he said. And he repeated himself. "I LOVE you. I just wanted to protect this, this thing between us. Do you understand?"

"Let me go," David whispered, head bowed. Kaz loosened the bruising grip on David's wrist. David pulled free, roughly zipped his pants. "I just," And David turned his head to the ceiling, his face shining with silent tears. "I just can't right now, OK? I need space." his voice thick and low.

"David?" Kaz whispered, his own throat growing tight, his anger slipping away, leaving bone deep exhaustion and pain. He just wanted to sleep.

"Goodbye, Master Miller." David whispered, and he bolted from the room, shoving his feet into his shoes, forgoing his socks, barely remembering to undo the deadbolt before hurrying out.

Kaz watched him leave, feeling shell-shocked and shattered, the air chilly against his completely naked form. Roughly, he divested himself of the vinyl sheath of the condom, tossing it to the ground in disgust. He sat down, bracing his arm against his knee, staring down at his mismatched legs. It was only when a hot droplet hit his bare leg that he realized that he was crying. Kaz allowed his head to dip lower and let himself sob, the burning in his throat impossible to deny. 

                                                               * * *

Solid pounded down the steps, barely able to see through the thick tears following. He ran blindly, dimly aware of a thicket of trees after awhile. He stopped and slid to the ground, leaning his back against a tree, the rough bark cutting through the thin fabric of his shirt. His head was buzzing, with pain and anger and confusion and longing. ? Did he hear Kaz correctly? Did he say that he loved him? He couldn't have. He treated him like unwanted shit when he spoke to Higgins. How could Kaz, strong, take-no-shit Miller ever want a man that had licked the scum off of his boots like an equal? And now Kaz didn't even think he was good enough for a fucktoy. He wiped the tears off his face with revulsion. Here he was again, dripping with disgusting snot because of Master Kazuhira Miller.

He drew in a shaky breath, letting his head fall against the tree. With fumbling fingers, he searched his pockets for a lighter and his pack of cigarettes. He'd already had his customary smoke a day, but he felt that he deserved it after this. Solid tucked the cigarette between his lips and lit it, sucking in a calming puff of nicotine. He held the pack loosely in his lap, his other fingers plucking the cigarette out occasionally.

"Solid?" he was nearly finished when he heard a female voice call out his nickname hesitantly. His head snapped up, wiping his face with the shoulder of his t-shirt and shoving the pack into his pocket, stubbing the cigarette out into the grass. "Solid? Are you OK?"

His eyes focused on Kristen's compact, curvy figure. "Shit," he thought. Did he look like he'd been crying? Of course he did. He'd been bawling his fucking eyes out. "Shit," he thought again. Soldiers didn't cry, didn't shed tears over their superiors. They allowed themselves to be tools for the greater good, trusting in their country to use that power to do what was right. He half-heartedly wiped his face again with the shoulder of his shirt, before managing a weak smile aimed at the girl standing next to him. "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm... Good." he said roughly.

"God, Solid, have you been crying?" she asked, squatting to get a better look at his face. David turned his head.

"No," he muttered, his shoulder stained with snot and tears and his face was blotchy and shiny. Kristen ignored him and put her hand over his.

"What happened? What's wrong? Here, it's fine, I didn't use it- " she said, pulling a crumpled Kleenex from her pocket.

David took it gratefully, blowing his nose heartily. "Thanks,"

Kristen waited, then blew out a sigh. "Solid, come on. Tell me. Tell me what's wrong. Relationship troubles?"

David opened his mouth, ready to spill everything, needing to talk and get it out of his mind. But he closed it again and when Kaz's bespectacled face swam before him, reminding him that discretion was everything. He swallowed with difficulty. "Something like that," he said finally, his voice husky.

"Look, you don't want to tell me, fine. But whoever you're crying like this over? You clearly care a good deal for. Either be with them, or stop having any contact with them, cut them from your life completely. Just don't feel like shit all the time, not doing anything about it. OK? Just make a decision, and stick with it."

David didn't have the heart to tell her that he didn't have the power to do either, so he just nodded.

"Good," she said, standing. "I'm usually absolute shit in these situations. I don't know what came over me. Wanna go down to lunch? I'm starving. I missed breakfast."

"Sure. Uh, how's my face? Do I look-"

"Like you've been sobbing your soul out through your tear ducts and sinuses? No, and your color's gone down, as well. Fit for mass consumption once again." she assured him. David managed a laugh, and Kristen offered a hand to help pull him up. At his full height, he towered over her, her face cast in his shadow. "Now let's go, before all the good stuff's gone." 

                                                             * * *

Sunday passed without much event, Solid finally taking Jeremy up on his offer and wondering through town with him, simply trailing after him and his pack of rowdy friends, not saying much. He did stop into a comic book store and pick up the latest with Black Widow while Jeremy and his friends tried to see who could killed first by walking across the street when the "don't walk" sign was flashing, but other than that, it passed without much incident, Solid simply needing to get away from the near claustrophobic nature of the base.

Solid had tried to convince them to stop by Borders, but neither Jeremy nor any of his compatriots were very taken with the idea, preferring to sneak into bars and con people into buying them drinks. Solid hung back, never much one for anything that compromised his faculties in a public setting.

He still didn't know what to think about his relationship with Master Miller. Kazuhira. Kaz. Had they been together? Solid knew that loving someone did not a relationship make, no mater how badly either party wanted it to, but it had to count for something. Right? But apparently Kaz no longer wanted to even have sex with him, so he was completely lost as to what to do.

When he awoke on Monday morning, he remembered with a pang of mixed relief and disappointment that it was still CQC with low ammo and Sterling, so he'd be able avoid Kaz for another week, at least. He rolled out of bed, forgoing the ladder and did 10 one-handed push-ups on either side, just to get his blood pumping. Jeremy rolled over with a groan and cracked one eye, staring at him with revulsion.

"Man, you're bat guano crazy," he muttered, eyes slipping shut once more. "I think we get enough exercise as it is!"

Solid laughed, standing up and getting dressed, accustomed to being one of the first to get out of bed.

Later, as the sun cast longer shadows, Solid and Jeremy went down to their next session of the day, to gun cleaning and upkeep with Marks. Marks was a woman that was very clearly bored with her job, obviously under the impression that if you didn't know how to take care of at least 5 different types of guns before coming, you shouldn't have joined the up. To her credit, she said nothing that was overtly malicious or cruel, but she did give off a condescending air when helping them out.

Jeremy was fumbling around with his magazine, flustered by Marks' proximity to him (despite the fact that she was in her late 50s, possibly early 60s, Jeremy had a thing for her), and accidentally dropped the (thankfully empty) magazine, which bounced off the edge of the wooden table and directly on to Solid's foot, who cursed in pain.

"Shit, man, sorry," Jeremy said, crouching to retrieve it.

"Keep it in your pants, Downes." Solid muttered through gritted teeth as Marks made her way towards them, mouth already open to scold Jeremy.

"What seems to be the issue here, Mr. Downes?" inquired an achingly familiar voice from the doorway.

                                                             * * *

Sunday morning, Kaz wandered through the base, searching for a dark head and an easy laugh. His search ended fruitlessly, and annoyed, he leaned on the building of the recruits barracks to ease the twinge in his leg.

Letting his gaze roam the grounds, his spirit rose briefly when he caught sight of a dark head of hair, but fell again when he recognized the small form of Kristen Chavez. Spurred by sudden inspiration, he called after her.

"Master Miller!" she exclaimed in surprise, hand snapping to attention to her forehead.

Kaz waved an irritable hand. "At ease, Ms. Chavez. Listen, do you know where Da- Where Solid is? I have some important matters to discuss with him."

Chavez hesitated for a moment before caving in. "He's with Jeremy Downes, sir, and some other people. I think they're out at the moment, sir. At the town."

Kaz's spirits sunk still lower. He wasn't about to search all over town for Solid. That would surely tip someone off. Kaz was about to dismiss her when he saw her hesitating once more, as if to say something more. "What is it, soldier? Go on, spit it out."

"Permission to speak freely, sir?" she requested, looking anxious.

"I just gave it, didn't I?" Kaz said more harshly than the situation called for, peering down at her through his tinted glasses.

"Well, Master Miller, it's just that Solid's going through a rough patch right now. I found him cr- Ah, upset, outside by the field yesterday. Girl troubles, I think. He's really messed up right now, though he hides it well. Sir, I don't wish to out step my bounds and I know that your intentions are correct and you're far more well-versed than me in the handling of any situation, but if you could go easier on him, that would be, ah, good for him, I think, sir." she finished quickly, looking as though she expected to be smack across the face for her impudence.

Kaz gave a grim smile. "Your concern is touching, Ms. Chavez. I'll keep your suggestion in mind. You may leave."

Chavez gave a relieved final salute and scurried off, desperate to get away, Kaz watching her go with a heavy heart. Had she been about to say crying? He'd figured that Solid had been finished with tears before he'd made it down the stairs. Kaz was constantly surprised by his effect on David, it seemed.

Ah, well. It could wait until tomorrow. Perhaps more time would be better for them both to spend a little more time apart. He retired to his office, taking occasional swigs from the bottle that he kept in the dresser drawer, not bothering with a glass.

The next day, Kaz rose with not insubstantial difficulty, his head pounding with a familiar hangover and sweaty, the echoes of remembered screams in his ears and the burn of hot explosions still playing on his skin, despite the soft sheets against him. But still, he took care of himself, taking time to shave off two days worth of growth on his face and neck and putting mousse in his hair, something that he hardly ever bothered with, wearing his beret most of the time anyway. It was a stark contrast to his younger self, who had taken meticulous care of his grooming, despite all of his time in the field. Kaz wanted to look nice. Or at the very least presentable. He donned the white undershirt that had dark permanent marker smudges on the collar and buttoned a clean tan shirt over it, shrugging his green army coat over it.

He stopped by his office to get a copy of the recruits' timetables, ostensibly in order to plan out his own lesson plans, but actually scanning the list for any mention of David's name. Running his eyes down the detailed list, he finally spotted it, and it had him slated for Marks' gun care class in 45 minutes. Deciding to catch him then, he wrote down excuses for the rest of Solid's classes and he went down to the mess hall to grab some free food.

An hour-and-a-half later, he went down to the building where Marks' class was held, having been roped into helping Higgins with some paperwork as he was leaving the mess hall, cursing Higgins out mentally the whole way down.

He paused in the doorway, not having planned out the next step. What would he say? Shaking off the indecision, he squared his shoulders, and proudly marched into the building, searching for the familiar form of Solid. His eyes settled on a desk towards the back of the room, an annoyed Marks berating a flushed Jeremy, Solid rubbing his foot through his shoe, teeth gritted in pain.

"What seems to be the issue here, Mr. Downes?" Kaz asked, before descending on them, crutch clicking on the warped hardwood, the dim lighting affecting his sight.

Before either David or Jeremy could explain, Marks cut in. "Mr. Downes here thought that juggling magazines was a delightful idea and harmed a friendly." she said coldly. Jeremy ducked his head in shame.

"I was wondering if I might steal him away from your extraordinarily capable hands right now, Tabitha," Kaz asked smoothly, unable to avoid turning on the charm despite Marks' proud reputation of being asexual. He was actually on fairly decent terms with her, despite her viewing him as a cocky kid.

Marks rolled her eyes, impervious to his charm. She waved a dismissive hand. "Go on, take him then. It seems that if he stays any further, Downes here will have his other foot."

Downes flushed deeper, ashamed.

Solid froze. "I wonder if I might finish my lesson first, ma'am, sir." he requested, tone perfectly moderated.

Both Kaz and Marks frowned. Marks raised an eyebrow. "You would deny your superior, soldier?" she asked, her voice even and icy.

"No, of course not. I just don't want to miss anything, ma'am." David said hurriedly. Something twisted in Kaz's gut.

Marks sighed and crossed her arms, muscles tensing. "Don't insult me or yourself, recruit. We both know that you could do this exercise in your sleep. Unlike others," she added with a cutting look to Jeremy.

David's head tilted in deference. "Of course not, ma'am."

"To my office, then. Now." Kaz ordered, not wanting to seem soft.

David inclined his head. "Of course, Master Miller."

"Master Miller," Kaz thought with irrational anger.

David followed him from the dimly lit classroom, unconsciously falling in step with Kaz.

Kaz led the way down to his office, some mingled trepidation and excitement curling in his gut. He glanced behind him, gratified to see David's head down, eyes focused on Kaz's ass framed in his well-fitting pants. David looked away quickly when Kaz added an exaggerated sway to tease him, leaning heavily into his crutch, mortification at being caught creeping up David's cheeks.

Grinning slightly, Kaz stopped at his door. David stepped in front of him and opened the door. "After you, sir," he said politely, extending an arm.

Kaz snorted, shoving past him. "You're too kind, cadet."

David came in after him, shutting the door with a soft click behind him. Kazuhira walked to his desk chair, dropping into it and inching it forward. David stood before him, hands clasped loosely behind his excessively straight back, the desk an obstacle between them.

"Well, sir? You wanted me for something? Is it paperwork?" Solid asked in his infuriatingly well-mediated tone.

"You know damn well that it's not about paperwork," Kaz grunted, dropping all pretenses.

If possible, David's back stiffened further at this utterance. "What is it, Master Miller? What- " 

"Fucking call me Kaz," he growled, almost knocking over his chair as he stood up to get closer to David, who held his ground. He strode around his desk, letting David feel the couple inches in height he had on him.

"Then what is it? I call you Kaz and you tell me to call you Master Miller. Then you tell me the opposite is true. What the fuck do I do?!" Solid asked, his frustration finally breaking through his defenses. Two spots of color appeared high on Solid's cheekbones, the color slowly joining over the bridge of his nose.

"Just call me Kaz now," he said, more calmly. They were both silent for a bit, staring into each other's eyes, separated by the lens of Kaz's glasses. Finally, unable to take the silence any longer, David broke it.

"So why am I here now?"

Kaz opened his mouth to say something, anything, but exactly what he didn't want to slip out did. "Who the fuck left those bruises on your back?"

David blinked in surprise, taking a step back. "The bruises on my back? What bruises?" he asked blankly, raising a hand to rub at the back of his neck, his eyebrows creased in confusion.

Kaz growled and took a step closer to David. "You know what I'm fucking talking about. The bruises on your back. The goddamn hickeys that are tattooed across your back. Did you even wait until the next day, or did you do it the same day? Couldn't wait to be shot of me, could you?"

David expression cleared in recognition, hot anger quickly taking the place of the confusion. "You mean the bruises that Kristen gave me?" he asked, and at Kaz's sharp intake of breath, he added. "That she gave me in CQC class with a fake gun. She hits with concerning enthusiasm." Though he was tempted to leave Kaz with the thought that he had had sex with someone else, he couldn't do that to Kristen. As much as it embarrassed him, Kaz was the only one he'd been that far with. Kaz fell back in shock.

"In class," he said, shock showing clearly in his face.

"In class." Solid confirmed, mutinous expression diluted slightly by the hot flush still there.

Kaz let out a laugh of relief and joy. In class. Those marks that he'd been so overwhelming jealous of had been made in class. Still, he didn't like that Solid had been marked up by someone else. With no warning, he grasped the back of David's neck, crutch falling to the ground with a loud clunk, pulling him into a deep kiss. He licked David's full bottom lip slowly, sensually. David shuddered in his grasp, arousal briefly overwhelming him before he tore himself away. Kaz fell against his desk, his arm bracing himself against it, staring at David, who was breathing heavily.

"You can't just do this. You can't just kiss me when you're horny and ignore me when I'm inconvenient." he burst out, pain crossing his features. "And I know you think of me as a clingy child, a pathetic boot licker, so don't lie to me. Just- Just don't." he finished, turning away, a tear slipping out.

Kaz swore. "I don't think of you as a kid. I told you, I said those things about us to throw Higgins off! And it fucking worked, OK? It worked. She hasn't said a word about it to me since. I love you! I want you, only you, you beautiful idiot! Quit being so damned stupid and get over here and kiss me!" Kaz felt horrible, knowing how deeply he'd wounded David, but he wasn't about to apologize for doing something that he felt was right. And it'd worked, damn it.

David didn't move for a second. Then he strode quickly over to Kaz. Grabbing the back of his head, he lowered Kaz's face to just a hair's breadth away from his lips. "Did you mean it? When you said you loved me?" he murmured, his hot breath hitting Kaz's face. His eyelids were lowered, the blue of his irises barely visible through his thick lashes.

The tantalizing proximity getting to Kaz, he pushed his hips out. "Of course I fucking meant it, David." he said, before pushing his mouth against David's, who immediately responded, moving his lips against his fiercely, as if he would disappear if David's mouth didn't hold him down.

Kaz gasped into his mouth, surprised at David's enthusiasm. Solid took as an opening, and his tongue slipped out, licking Kaz's mouth throughly, tracing his mouth over and over. David shifted so that he was straddling Kaz against the desk, his warm body holding Kaz up. Kaz moved the hand that was threaded through David's hair and slid down his hard back, his hand slipping beneath his shirt. But as soon as he started to work the shirt off, David pulled away.

Kaz almost whimpered. "Where do you think you're going, David?"

David halfway turned, that shit-eating grin that Kaz loved gracing his handsome face.

"Up to your place. You didn't think I'd mess up your desk did you?" he asked, picking up his crutch and handing it to him. Kaz didn't admit that he had indeed been thinking of shoving everything to the floor and fucking Solid senseless against it. He merely returned the grin and slid his arm into the crutch, following Solid for once.

They barely made it to Kaz's quarters. Kaz cleared the stairway the quickest he had ever in his life, even with all original parts included. Almost before the door was shut, he was on David, his hand and mouth everywhere, the crutch safely leaning against the wall.

He took Solid's shirt off immediately, licked his throat, stroked David's nipple, bit his shoulder, enjoyed his overheated bare skin, all whilst drinking in his moans. David didn't have to try and be quiet for once, and Kaz approved. David arched his back, his hands unbuckling the metal fastening of Kaz's leather belt, untucking his shirts. His jacket was still in place, but the beret had fallen, forgotten to the floor by the crutch. David shucked his shoes and socks off, kicking them into a pile even as his hands busied themselves with the belt buckle.

"Hasty, are we?" Kaz murmured against the skin of Solid's shoulder. Solid nodded, his face clouded with desire. "I agree, it's been far too long."

"Well, some idiot tried to traipse half naked into a busy hallway to rescue a hat, and then this other guy decided that the best thing for their relationship was to deride it in its entirety, so it's understandable."

Kaz laughed. "But even before that," he said, letting his mouth drift lower, latching onto David's pink nipple. David moaned, his eyelids actually fluttering.

"I know," he said in a strained voice. "It was still summer," They both silently agreed to discount their last disastrous time together, preferring to ignore its existence.

"What, have you been counting the days?" Kaz teased lightly, moving on to the other one. David shrugged, embarrassed. Kaz raised his eyebrows. "Aw, shucks, I'm flattered."

David laughed. "Shut up," he said, no heat behind his words but desire.

Kaz straightened up. "Shall we?" he asked, gesturing behind him, towards his bedroom, the bed still unmade. David practically tripped in his haste to help him to the bedroom. Kaz swallowed a laugh, not wanting to hurt Solid's tender pride any more, slinging his arm over Solid's bare shoulders.

He laid Kaz down sideways on the bed, then crawled over him, kissing and licking every inch of exposed skin, pushing up his shirts to stick his tongue into the hollows of Kaz's hips. Kaz groaned, then tugged David up so that he could kiss him properly. He loved the feel of David's soft lips moving against his own, the reluctant trembling he could coax out of him if he stroked David in just the right spots.

David was trembling slightly now, although Kaz wasn't sure if that was based off of his incredible skills or if David was just overexcited from the long break between them. David finally worked the belt free of his pants, and tugged them lower on his hips. David shoved up his shirts, running his hands greedily over his exposed chest, lowering his hips to rock against Kaz. Kaz broke the kiss, and Solid moved on to Kaz's slightly sweaty throat, enjoying the smoothness of his neck.

"You shaved for me?" Solid asked, leaning up on his forearms to better look at Kaz's face.

"Not just for you," he corrected, his answering flush telling a much different a story. "It was time."

"OK, OK, I just wanted you to know that I appreciate the gesture," David grinned. Kaz growled and used his good leg to curl around Solid and flip him over, switching places with him. He grabbed his chin and tugged it down to gain better access to those amazing lips. He pressed an almost bruising kiss to them.

"Such an alpha," Solid muttered against his mouth, trying to look disgruntled but ending up just looking extremely gruntled and aroused.

"And you love it," Kaz breathed, lowering himself, letting his partially exposed abdomen to fall flush David's naked chest. "Now these have just got to go," he said, trailing his fingers along the hot skin of David's hip, and David arched his back so that he could tug the pants off, letting his dick pop out, disappointed to see that it was only halfway erect. Underneath him, Solid squirmed, kicking his pants off in one fluid motion.

"Hm. Only halfway up? Am I losing my touch?" Kaz inquired, gripping it firmly in his hand.

"Been practicing control, sir," David explained with some difficulty. "For the tenting issue."

Kazuhira growled at the sir. "Kaz. You're to call me Kaz," he said, forgetting his cares not to order David around just yet and forcefully stroking it. Before, it'd been a little erotic, to be referred to with such deference in a sexual situation, but now it just reminded him of the rift between them, something he desperately needed to forget. In no time at all, it was fully erect, flushed and dripping.

"Now that's more like it," Kaz praised him, rewarding him with a long kiss. ? David tilted his chin up, Kaz taking this as an opportune time to suck on his neck, leaving the skin there red and wet.

David reached up, undoing the buttons of his shirt and pulling the coat from his shoulders, laying it next to them. Kaz lifted himself up with his hand, dropping David's dick, and rocked back on his heels, ignoring the pain this caused and allowing him to take them off. David tossed the button down onto the ground, giving the white t-shirt the same treatment, apparently too aroused to bother with folding. But when Kaz tried to give the coat the same fate after carefully replacing his glasses, David caught his hand.

"Wait. Uh, do you think you could, um, put it back on?" he asked, lowering his gaze in shame.

Kaz grinned. "What was that?" he asked innocently, his wicked grin giving him away.

"Could you- Oh, nevermind. It's stupid. Naked is good." Solid said hastily, turning his head away and running his hand along Kaz's bare chest and up to his right arm, caressing the scarred flesh lovingly. Kaz ignored his trick, since he knew David was well-aware of the effect that any contact to that area had on him.

"Yes, naked is good, but I'm happy to indulge in your fantasies, if only you tell them to me." Kaz damn near purred, enjoying this too much. He grabbed David's face, tilting his head so that he was forced to look up at him. David easily obliged him, though his face was still hot with shame. He didn't speak.

"David..." Kaz said, trailing his hand down from his face, across his chest, over a tender nipple. He ran the hand over the hard plane of his abdomen, finally allowing it to caress the achingly hard dick. "David, tell me what your fantasy is, involving me and this coat."

David's breathing strained, he pushed his hips needfully under Kaz, Kaz didn't relent, still teasing him with lazy, soft strokes. "Well, you're, you're on a bed," he managed, flushed and sweating. "And I'm standing with your leg on my shoulder, and I'm thrusting into you, and you're wearing that coat, just that coat, and- ah- " he broke off, just as Kaz accidentally rewarded him with just a little more pressure than he intended. David composed himself and went on. "And you're telling me that I can go harder, faster, better than that. Then you start- " David broke off, his skin stained even more deeply, looking away.

Kaz ceased stroking and pulled David's face towards him again. "David, you'd better finish your tale, or these-" he gestured at his own pants. "Aren't coming off."

David looked up at him with frustration in his face. "Fuck, Kaz, but it's so embarrassing." Kaz maintained his steady gaze, determined to cease stroking until he resumed his fantasy. Realizing this, David sighed heavily and closed his eyes, as if to better picture it. "And you, ah, start-" David bit his bottom lip as Kaz resumed his teasing strokes, partly out of pleasure and partly out of deep embarrassment. "You start touching yourself, OK?" he blurted out, cracking open an eye as if to see if Kaz has burst out laughing yet. He's surprised to find that he hasn't, that Kaz is watching him with rapt attention, his pupils dilated with desire from behind the amber lenses. Unsure of what to think of this, he continues his dirty bedtime story, shutting his eye. "So you're stroking yourself in time with my thrusting and encouraging me to go harder, and my hand is on your hip and your hand is massaging my ass, and then you dropped your leg, pressed it into the bed and the other is against my side, and I have a hand on it, and we both climax almost simultaneously." he finished hurriedly, face hot and his eyes squeezed shut, confused when the hand massaging his dick doesn't stop.

"Kaz?" he said uncertainly opening his eyes. 

Kaz is still lightly stroking him, but now he's rocking his hips as well. "Well, well. That was a nice story. I'd like to bring this to life, with a few edits." Kaz said huskily, stroking him once or twice more before sliding off the bed. David sat up and helped him into the green jacket, giving an appreciative groan at the sight of his bare chest framed by the jacket. David trailed his fingers up and down his chest, before stopping at his waistband.

"May I, Kaz?" he whispered, gaining a tight hold on the waistband, arms tensed in preparation. Kaz nodded, and without further ado, David yanked the pants down, revealing Kaz's fully-fledged erection in all its glory. David let out a little sigh in appreciation, and bent down off the bed to untie Kaz's shoes for him. Kaz sat down briefly to remove them, and David moved behind him, sucking on the curve of his shoulder all the way up to his neck. He's just finding his groove when Kaz pats the side of his head.

"I'll be right back," he whispered, almost laughing at David's forlorn look. He began to make his way towards the bathroom, cursing when he spotted his crutch leaning on the door. He turned to request David's help, but David was already scrambling off the bed, hastening to Kaz's side.

"Where to?" he asked, unnecessarily wrapping both arms around Kaz. Kaz leaned into him, gesturing to the bathroom. "In there. We have to grab something."

David's brow creased in confusion, but he leads him there all the same. His complexion, which had nearly evened out, darkened again as he noted the huge jar of something that he assumed was meant to be lubricant that Kaz had fished out of the medicine cabinet. "O-oh" is all he muttered, leading Kaz back to the bed.

Kaz glanced over at him, giving him a small, dangerous smile. "Oh, indeed. I'll try and be gentle, but I can't say I won't enjoy this."

David's skin went almost completely a dark shade of pink now, nothing escaping the dark flush that pervaded his body at the mental image Kaz's words conjured up and the sight of Kaz in his army jacket and nothing else is almost too much. Kaz dipped his index and middle fingers into the tub, getting a sizable amount onto them. David slid onto the bed, sitting on his heels, face betraying his uncertainty.

"Wait," David said suddenly, snatching up the tub, flipping it over to look at the tiny print listing the ingredients. 

Kaz tried to smother his laughter, certain that this was an evasion tactic. He sat heavily back down on the bed. "David, I'm not trying to hurt you. That's not exactly the goal here, you know."

David glanced up, annoyed. "I know that. I'm just making sure that there's nothing I'm potentially allergic to in this stuff."

Kaz cast a skeptical look at him. "And you know the chemical names for everything that you have an allergy to? Aside from that, there's only 7 ingredients in that. It's very sensitive, don't you worry." Kaz assured him in a slightly mocking tone, his fingers still crooked in an effort to contain the substance.

David frowned still more, fingers still clenched around it. "I'm looking for things like- green tea. And ginger!" he said, flustered.

Kaz laughed openly and leaned in, his mouth unbearably close to David's. "And you're allergic to ginger now? I know you can put away 10 gingersnaps if the opportunity arises. You know what I think? I think you're avoiding me. We don't have to do this, you know, we could just- "

David frowned from anger and embarrassment, his pride wounded as Kaz knew it would be. David set the tub down, and he forcefully pressed his lips against Kaz's, as if to prove that he was here for this. "I never said that. And it's a topical allergy." he protested, pulling away to argue his case. Kaz chased his mouth back down, unable to rid himself of the small smirk playing around his lips.

"A topical allergy, huh? I'll keep that in mind. Good thing this isn't going on _externally_ , isn't it?" he teased, starting to lay his hand on David's thigh. David grabbed the back of his hand and held it in the air.

"Careful, now. You don't want to ruin your jacket." David cautioned. "I bet this stains."

Kaz cocked an eyebrow. "You sure that's a warning for me? The way I see it, you stand to have a lot more to lose if something happens to it."

David scowled. "It's yours. Do with it what you will." he grumbled, leaning back.

"Don't worry," Kaz said, his voice low. "I know how important this jacket is to you. I'll take real good care of it." he promised, stealing another kiss.

He stood up, leaning against the bed. "Edit number one, coming up. Come here and lay down, David."

David crawled over, uncertainly laying down on his back. Kaz caught sight of the bruises that he hadn't left, and an irrational feeling of jealousy flooded him briefly, even though he knew that they were made in a professional capacity. Kaz leaned down suddenly, carefully holding the coated hand in the air to avoid smearing it anywhere and left three large, consecutive marks, one on each side of his chest and then one low on his abdomen. Pleased by his handiwork and the little moans that he had heard as he'd done them, he nudged David's leg with his arm.

"Legs bent," he ordered gently, and David complied, watching him eyes full of anticipation and, unless Kaz was mistaken, a little fear. Filled with tenderness, he kissed the inside of his knee. "Hey, I've done this bit before, haven't I? And you enjoyed it then, right?"

Solid nodded, then realizing that he wanted a verbal reply, he added, "Yeah, I did."

"Then just relax, and enjoy it. But this time, keep your filthy hands to yourself. I fully intend on making it in there today," he assured him, enjoying the mortified look David gave him. He leaned against the bed and David's leg, positioning his fingers. "You ready?" he asked, his hand at the ready.

"Yeah," David whispered, his body tense.

"Relax," Kaz reminded him, and Solid's toes curled and uncurled as he tried to calm himself. Kaz waited, then gently worked his fingers inside, smearing the lubricant all around, massaging the spot that he knew was Solid's special spot after he was done, trying to relax him. David gasped in surprise and moaned, pushing himself down on his fingers and arching his back. And, because he was already _right_ _there_ , he flicked his tongue over the end of David's dick, earning him a moan so loud that it may have been heard outside.

"I think, I think I'm ready for you, now, Kaz." David said, looking down at him, even though he was still clenched tightly around his fingers. Kaz growled. He had been the same way. Whenever the occasion was afforded to him to go on top, Big Boss had always forced him to go before he was ready, too impatient to properly ready himself. He almost tugged his fingers out, but then he stopped. What was he doing? He could do what he wanted to David, and David would let him. And what Kaz wanted was to be able to slip inside him whilst causing the other minimal pain and maximum arousal. So that's what he planned on doing.

"You most certainly are not," Kaz admonished him, frowning. "And I'm not going in until you're ready."

David made a small noise in his throat that could be construed as a whine by someone with a less generous personality than Kazuhira Miller and pushed down harder on his fingers. Kaz nuzzled his knee affectionately, smirking. "Patience, David. What are they teaching you at that base?"

David frowned as much as he possibly could while his face was contorted in ecstasy. He reached a hand down to stroke himself, but Kaz knocked into his knee. "I don't what you coming too early, now. Some things take time, you know." When Kaz was finally satisfied with David, he tugged his fingers out after giving one last firm stroke, sinking into the bed beside him. 

"Huh. It seems my fingers are too sticky to prepare myself. Would you...?" Kaz asked, with a lazy gesture at his nightstand drawer. David curled forward, pulling open the drawer and rooting around until he found the box of tiny foil squares. Kaz took this opportunity to leave a few marks of his own on David's back, attempting to obliterate the previous bruises with his own. David rocked back on his heels, unwrapping the small square to reveal the condom.

Kaz stuck his hips out, proudly presenting his engorged dick, thoroughly enjoying David's tentative unrolling of the condom. David began to get back into position, but Kaz stopped him. "What're you doing? You're not finished." he said, nudging the still open container towards him. David flushed and stuck his hands into it, digging into the slippery goop to get out more than he strictly needed. He rubbed his hands together, as if to warm it up, before he seized Kaz's dick, stroking him with powerful movements, both hands working. Kaz moaned, his hips rocking against him of their own accord.

"Careful. Be gentle, now. The fun part's not yet started," he warned, and David loosened his grip a little, smirking himself. Kaz grinned, determined to replace it with one of undiluted desire.

Once Kaz was fully lubricated, David glanced up at him, wordlessly asking him if his work was satisfactory, his hands still wrapped around him.

"Well done," Kaz said, pushing up off the bed and leaning against it. David tugged a tissue out of the box on his nightstand and cleaning his hands off, tossing it into the garbage can. "Come here," David laid on his back, then scooted towards him, using his legs to pull himself into position.

"Don't tense up, now. Don't ruin all of my careful work," Kaz cautioned, curling his hand around David's tensed thigh, kneading it softly. "I'd hate to have to start all over."  

David exhaled, trying to calm down a bit. Kaz bumped himself against David, causing him to stiffen. "Sorry," he muttered, lifting his head to better look at Kaz's covered eyes.

"It's no issue," Kaz said soothingly. "We have all the time you need."

"Time," David repeated, letting his head flop back, looking at Kaz's alarm clock. His head bounced up, and he attempted to get off the bed. "Shit, Kaz, I was supposed to be in class 45 minutes ago!"

Kaz leaned forward and pressed a strong hand into his shoulder, forcing him back down. "Calm down, David. I took care of it for you. You're supposed to be out performing highly important errands with me all day. Our schedules are clear. Don't get used to it. This is a special thing."

David reclined back into the bed, smiling in relief. "You'd had this all planned out, didn't you? You conniving son of a- unnng " David broke off, as Kaz teased one of his nipples and pressed his mouth on the inside of his upper thigh, allowing his tongue to dart out briefly.

Kaz straightened up and lifted his shoulder. "A man can dream, can't he?" he gave a lusty smile to David, who grinned back.

Kaz slid his hand down David's slightly sweaty chest, pausing right above his erect dick, his thumb brushing his dark pubic hair. "Now, I won't lie, when I first go in, it'll hurt a little, but after your body grows accustomed to me, it'll be painless. Pleasurable, even."

David nodded, looking up at him with blue eyes brimming with respect and trust. "I know you'll do this properly, Kaz." David murmured. "I'm completely in your capable, ah, hand."

Kaz snorted. "Smart-ass," he said, trying to cover up the fact that David's complete faith in him had shaken him. He knew how much trepidation David was feeling right now, never having thought that this would happen to him and frankly not really wanting it to, but the fact that he trusted Kaz enough to make it enjoyable touched him.

Shaking off his sappy thoughts, he tugged David even closer to him, widening his legs. David was watching him carefully, holding his breath. Kaz patted his lower abdomen, which was taut with anxiety. "Hey, breathe. In and and out. Listen to me. When I get to 4, you finish inhaling. When I get back down to 1, you finish exhaling, OK? Just a little breathing exercise to help you."

David nodded, letting himself breathe in deeply. "OK, 1... 2... 3... 4, and stop. Now exhale slowly, 4... 3..." Kaz counted rhythmically, repeating the process until he finally slid inside him, on an exhale. Kaz moaned loudly. David was clenched tightly around him, slick and warm. All he wanted to do was thrust in and out, but it wasn't lost on him that David's erection had flagged, back down to halfway.

"How do you feel? Any discomfort?" Kaz asked, bending over him, keeping his hips torturously still.

David opened his eyes. "Not too bad," he lied, a tiny crease of pain appearing between his brows.

"So..." Kaz said, moving his hand regretfully from David's warm hip and bracing himself against the bed, holding himself perfectly still, hovering above him. "I want to ask you something, and I want you to answer me honestly. And without shame." he added as an afterthought, looking at David's red, damp face.

David immediately looked on guard. "What is it, Kaz?"

"Was that your first time? With anyone, I mean." Kaz clarified, eyes carefully tracking David's expression as it cleared as he realized what he asked, then cloud with embarrassment and annoyance.

"You know this is my first time with someone's dick up my ass, Kaz. It's kind of a big deal for me." David said, looking away.

Kaz sighed, repressing the urge to make an off color joke, wanting an answer to his question. "Not now. I meant before. In my office."

David tried to squirm away, before remembering why that was an impossibility. Kaz smothered a groan at the slight movement around him, glad that this conversation was taking his mind off of the discomfort but quite desperate to get on with it. David's eyes cast around the room, trying to find something to focus on before finally looking at Kaz, his face hot enough to fry an egg on.

"Fine, yes, OK?" he burst out, determinedly meeting Kaz's eyes, wishing that Kaz's glasses weren't tinted. He wanted to know what he was thinking, badly. Was his inexperience a turn off? Or was it a turn on? Did that mean that after Kaz finished what he was doing, he'd be uninterested in him? The cherry popped, would he move on? David sighed, the pain in the lower region of his body definitely abating. "Yes, it was. I mean, I've gotten close before, with other people. Mostly girls. But no, I'd never gone that far before. You're my first, OK?"

Kaz smiled, overly pleased by this outburst. "It's fine, David. You're fine. Honestly, I'm a little honored." He pressed a tiny kiss right over David's navel, ignoring the discomfort radiating from his bad leg at being pressed in such an awkward position. He slowly licked and sucked his way all around David's abdomen, his tongue winding along faded scars and muscle. His hand wrapped around David's half erection, trying to coax it back up to its former glory. "Just tell me when it doesn't hurt anymore. The second it doesn't hurt anymore," Kaz said, his hips twitching against his will. "I don't know how much longer I can wait like this." he admitted.

"I will, Kaz." David promised, his hand nestling in Kaz's blond hair. Kaz licked the spot where he'd just sucked lightly, listening to David's sharp intake of breath. He stroked him gently, not wanting him to get too far along before it was time, but wanting him insatiably aroused. He ran his thumb over the tip, and David's hips bucked, sliding against Kaz in him unintentionally and eliciting a low moan from Kaz.

"It's not bad now," David whispered, his hand falling from Kaz's hair.

Kaz laughed soundlessly. "I guessed as much," he said, straightening up and taking an experimental thrust, steadying himself with a hand on David's hip. He and David moaned, quietly for once, Kaz sliding easily in David. He set a slow pace, careful not to push David too far, enjoying the feeling of David surrounding him on all sides more than words could accurately express. David listened to his pace, rocking against him, his breathing uneven and his eyes slipping shut every now and then, though he tried to focus on Kaz. Kaz stared down at him, entranced by his sweaty dark hair, his pale skin, bruised in some spots, his red knuckles.

David reached up, clearly about to stroke himself, needing some pressure to be relieved, but Kaz knocked his hand away. "Didn't I tell you? I take my job very seriously," he huffed out, and began stroking David in time with his movements.

It was all too much for David, who cried out loudly. "Ahnng. Holy fuck, Master Miller, this is unbelievable."

Kaz moved with more speed, his hand speeding up, frustrated with the "Master Miller". He was supposed to cry out his name. His. Not his title. His name "Call. Me. Kaz." he grunted out, punctuating each word with a thrust, his hips smacking into David's ass.

David, always quick to please his Master Miller, squirmed, his hips temporarily breaking tempo. "Yes, sir." After he'd had his bit of fun first. At a markedly rougher thrust he let out a noise of mixed pain and pleasure at, he obliged him, abashed, laughing breathlessly. "Yes, Kaz. You're- ah- incredible, Kaz." David opened his eyes, trying to see through the swathes of lust and intense pleasure that was clouding them, watched Kaz's glasses slip down his nose, looked at the jacket flapping around him as he thrusted in and out in a dazzling rhythm.

"Are you enjoying yourself, Kaz?" he whispered.

Kaz growled. "Does it feel like I'm enjoying myself, David?"'he asked in a low voice, tilting his hips to hit a different different spot in David, his hand dropping off of David's dick to better grasp his hip. David's back arched off the bed in shock, and he clenched reflexively around Kaz. "God, Kaz. Ka-Aa-az! Please don't stop."

Kaz moaned. "Just like that, David. Just like that. Say my name!"

"Kaz," David moaned, his eyes squeezed shut, winding Kaz's mostly empty sleeve around his hand. The olive green jacket slipped, a tantalizing glimpse of his naked shoulder peeking around the rough coat. He opened his eyes to better appreciate the view above him, eyes tracing the line of his coat and the bare skin hidden beneath. "Kaz, keep going, please, Kaz,"

Kaz groaned, feeling his climax oncoming, but shoved it down. He wanted to enjoy this, prolong it. Kaz wanted to prove to David that he was more than a quick fuck to him. He wanted to come in last place, for once. He resumed his attentions on David's dick, who made a noise that throughly voiced his pleasure. Slowing his pace with painful precision, he focused on stroking him in precisely the right places for maximum pleasure, his thrusts forcibly slow and careful, tender.

David squirmed on the bed, pressing into Kaz with frustration. "Why'd you slow down, Mast- Kaz?" he tried to set the pace, urging Kaz to go faster, causing Kaz to stop completely and press a hand to David's hip. David listened to his silent admonishment almost sulkily, raising his eyes insouciantly to meet Kaz's, and Kaz punished him by resuming his strokes, but now going even slower, rocking with a torturously slow pace.

"I'm going to make this nice and long, for the both of us." Kaz said, trying with difficulty to deliver this all in a mediated tone, staring back into his blue, blue eyes. "We're going to take our time," he whispered. "And you're going to enjoy doing so, David. You're not just a quick fuck to me."

David tore his eyes from Kaz's, staring resolutely at the wall, willing the urge to cry back. He felt like a weak fuck now, almost in tears in front of the man that he admired while that admirable man was actually inside him. He let out an unsteady breath, and Kaz leaned down, concerned.

"What's wrong? Am I hurting you?" he asked, immediately beginning to extricate himself. David seized his hips, fingers digging into his skin, pulling him closer.

"No, don't stop. It's not that. Please don't leave, Kaz. I'm fine. It's just- God, it's stupid. I'm just being stupid." David said, still holding onto him with a near painful grip.

"What is it, then?" Kaz asked gently, running his hand over David's hand, fingers lightly trailing along his skin, the back of David's hand much softer than the rough, soldier's skin along his palms and pads of his fingers that was flat against Kaz's naked skin.

"It's just- It means a lot to me. You saying that. That's what I want from you. To be more. In your eyes." David said, laying his cheek against Kaz's soft bedsheets, his eyes closed. "See? Stupid. Just keep going."

Something in Kaz broke, not in the horrible, heartbreaking way that it had when David had flinched at his use of his name, but nearly as painful. "That is the exact opposite of stupid, David. The exact opposite. And you are more than that to me." Kaz lifted his hand and gently, so gently guided David's face up. David opened his eyes, his lips parted. Kaz stared down at him. "I love you, David."

David let out a shaky breath that might have meant to be a laugh, a tear finally escaping against his will. "Are you sure you're not just saying that to get into my pants, Kazuhira?" he whispered. Kaz laughed and thrusted his hips, picking up a slightly more quicker pace than he had done before, thrilling at the way David said his full, true first name. Not his title. Not the nonsense that was "Benedict". His _name._

"I don't think I need any help in that department, if I do say so myself." he said, picking up David's dick, after neglecting it for far too long. David moaned without restraint, his hips simultaneously trying to push against his hand and into Kaz's thrusts artlessly. Despite how much he was enjoying this, after he saw that, Kaz knew that it wouldn't be long before they were pushed over the edge.

"Kaz," David whispered, his tone so reverent that it might've been a prayer. "I love you, too."

Kaz's face broke into a smile, his overwhelming arousal displaying itself in lightly pinked cheeks, blond strands sticking to flushed skin. "Now who's trying to get in whose pants?" he whispered.

David groaned, partly in annoyance and partly in desire. "Just shut up and fuck me, Master Miller."

Kaz gladly complied with the fucking, but couldn't resist speaking. "Kaz," he reminded him. "Call me Kaz, David."

David laughed again, his chest rising and falling, his expression intoxicatingly open and free. "I hope you realize how much you're saying your own name during sex, Kaz." ? Kaz laughed with him. "I guess I'm just that good."

David tried to look unimpressed. "In your dreams," he sniped back, even as his hips lifted from the bed in intense pleasure.

Kaz smirked, moving with deliberate strokes, the beginnings of an orgasm starting to coil low in his abdomen. He didn't try to push it back this time. "In yours, more like."

David laughed. "Fuck you,"

Kaz raised an arrogant eyebrow, moving his hips with purpose. "I thought that's exactly what I was doing."

David moaned. "I guess- ahh- I can't deny that you're in my dre- mm- in my dreams." he panted out with some trouble, his body writhing deliciously in pleasure. It wouldn't be long now. With a few more expert thrusts from Kaz and a wonderful twist of his hand, David came hard with a gasp, his whole body lost in convulsions of pleasure, his mind filled with nothing but intense, complete pleasure, the combined sensations of Kaz moving against him, inside him, around him, all proving to be too much for him to handle any longer.

Kaz nearly followed suit immediately, the sight of David's orgasm rendered by his hand so overwhelmingly arousing that was to was difficult to hold on, but he did, determined to watch the show that he'd brought about, feeling the warm sticky substance coat his hand and hit his stomach. And what a delectable show it was. Finally, after what seemed like an eon, David fell against the bed, still and exhausted, wrung out and entirely satisfied, though still weakly responding to Kaz's increasingly more insistent thrusts. Kaz gave one last, long stroke to David's softening dick, drawing out a low groan, before moving his hand down to grip David's hip tightly, now pounding into him, thoughts of gentleness scattered and forgotten in the recesses of his mind.

The climax burst within him, his eyes clenched beneath his glasses in intense pleasure. Kaz's movements became erratic and disjointed, any control that he had over his own body gone. Garbled Japanese sprang from his lips, not making any sense to David, but to be fair, it probably wouldn't make much sense to a a native Japanese speaker, either. The feeling of the condom suddenly expanding with warmth still inside David was an odd sensation, but not unpleasant. Just strange. David tiredly watched Kaz gasp and moan in pleasure, extremely pleased at his role in making Kaz become so completely undone. Kaz tugged himself out, stripping the sticky condom off and lobbing it into the trash can across the room and shrugging the jacket off of his shoulders. He collapsed on top of David, his chin nestling into his shoulder, his naked, sweaty skin warm. David accommodated the extra weight easily, adjusting slightly to get comfortable, running a hand along Kaz's back. Kaz let out a gusty sigh, his breath tickling him.

"Good," he mumbled against David's shoulder. "Very, very good."

"Yeah?" David whispered, smiling, still stroking his back. "Was I good?"

"God, David," Kaz moaned, rolling off of him so that he could look at him. David wound his arm around him, not willing to lose any physical contact. "Were you good? Yes, you were good. Perfect. Full marks, the whole works."

David beamed.

Kaz rolled his eyes, smiling back. "Now, don't go thinking that was anything near what most people have to experience during their first few sexual encounters. Not everyone gets to have somebody with so much experience under the belt. You're lucky enough to be dealing with someone who's gifted at this sort of thing. You have any questions, you come to me."

David laughed and rolled onto his side, wrapping his other arm around Kaz's bare middle. "Well, hopefully," he said carefully, focusing on the way Kaz's damp blond hair curled around his ear. "When I'm having these fascinating new experiences, you'll be right there with me."

Kaz tilted his chin up to look into David's downcast eyes. "Naturally," he murmured, lifting his hand up to brush his cheek lightly. "You're not going to have all the fun without me, now are you?"

David met his eyes, letting his own fingers trail against the back Kaz's hand before extricating himself from Kaz's body, laying on his back for awhile and staring up at the ceiling. Kaz frowned slightly, shifting closer. "What're you thinking?" he asked softly.

David turned his head to face him. He had been ruminating on the fact that he hadn't yet had his daily quota of a cigarette a day, but he didn't want to be reprimanded. "That I'm really fucking thirsty, but I don't want to get up. Do you still have pineapple juice?"

"In the fridge, top left shelf. You might want to be careful getting up, you- " he broke off as David bounced up, then flinched at the discomfort the sudden movement had caused.

"Ouch," David said, surprise coloring his tone.

Kaz offered a half-smile. "I did try and warn you,"

David shrugged. "It's not too bad. A little different. Definitely worth it." he said, a broad smile breaking across his face as he rescued his boxers from the floor, gently tugging them up. Kaz made a noise of disapproval, still prone on the bed. David raised an eyebrow. "You can't seriously think we should go again. Do you?" A note of anxiety crept into his voice, and Kaz heaved a dramatic sigh.

"I suppose not. I shall just have to curb my appetites for now. Don't worry, I'll get you trained. Whip you into shape." he assured him, his lips curving upwards.

"I don't doubt it," David mumbled under his breath, walking from the room, moving gingerly. He thoughtfully came back with his crutch, leaning it against the bed before disappearing into the kitchen. Kaz heard the fridge door open, the clink of glass against the counter, but he never heard the sound of fridge opening again.

Heaving himself up, he snatched his own boxer-briefs off the floor and went into the bathroom to clean himself up a bit, the crutch secured under his arm. When he came out, David was still in the kitchen. Curious, he walked out of his bedroom, wondering what was keeping him. He found David pouring over the pictures he had on the small mahogany cabinet by the counter, one of the few pieces of furniture he had. Kaz had multitudes of photos. Pictures of MSF and Diamond Dogs and his mother, a particularly faded and torn picture of his father, Colonel Miller, and many others. A small picture of two women with their arms wrapped around one another, one short with curves accentuated by muscle, the other long and lanky, both smiling broadly for the camera. He remembered what he had said when snapping the photo, could almost hear his cocky voice.

"Come on, ladies. Let me take a photo of this blinding beauty. It must be preserved for when we're old and reminiscing about the good old days of our youth!" Amanda had rolled her eyes but accepted, winding her arms around Cecile's waist as Cecile's red, red mouth stretched wide into a smile, leaning into one another.

Now there was a thought. David's lips done up in bright lipstick, red mouth around his- Well. It was certainly a good fantasy, but it was for another time. Especially since he'd already played out one of David's fantasies, with a few edits. A smirk lit across Kaz's face, unbeknownst to David, who was still engrossed in the pictures. Kaz walked over to him and rested his chin on his shoulder, looking at the photos. Kaz was certain that he could get him to receptive to the idea, if he played his cards right. He might even make David want to do it, to have it be his own idea.

Kaz stiffened when David reached a hand out, certain that he was going to pick up the one of him and Big Boss flanked by two of their MSF staff, whose names were just teasing the edges of his consciousness. Kaz was still whole in the old photo, posing with his legs spread and his arm around Big Boss's shoulder, a gun held loosely in his right hand and a delighted smile on his lips. He didn't pick that picture up. Instead, he brushed past it and picked up a photo of DD.

David studied it, a little crease forming between his eyes. "Why does this dog have an eyepatch? And how?"

Kaz scoffed and leaned into David, pressing his shoulder into his back. "He was missing an eye. The more important question is why wouldn't he have an eyepatch."

David cocked a dubious eyebrow, setting the photo back down next to a picture of a woman with dark brown hair tied back into a ponytail, both her eyes seemingly simultaneously sighting along a sniper rifle directly at the photographer. "OK, I'll buy that, though I'm still confused as to where the eyepatch came from and how it stays on, but is that even really a dog? Looks a little wolfish to me."

Kaz dropped a kiss against David's neck, shifting to get a better angle. "I think he was at least part dog. Pretty sure, at least. Definitely in the canine family."

David turned around to give him a proper kiss, and then grabbed the abandoned juice bottle and poured a generous amount into each cup, nearly slopping juice over onto the counter. Stooping, he sucked the juice down to a more easily manageable amount and replaced the juice into the fridge. He picked the cups up and jerked his head back to Kaz's bedroom. "Shall we?"

Kaz stepped back, allowing him through, a small smile curving his mouth. "Of course. Lead the way. Unless you want to borrow my crutch?" he offered.

David rolled his eyes. "I think I'm good," he said, making an effort to walk normally. Kaz smirked, following him into his room. Kaz climbed into the bed, pulling the covers down. He sat up and removed his prosthetic, and patted the space next to him invitingly.

David set the cups on the nightstand, leaning the crutch and the leg on the wall by the bed. David joined him, crawling under the covers and snatching the cups from the stand. David offered him a glass and Kaz took it, drinking deeply. David crawled over him and tucked himself next to Kaz, clutching his juice, careful not to jostle the contents onto the bed. David drained the contents of his glass in two quick consecutive gulps, leaning over Kaz to replace it on the nightstand.

Kaz sank back into the pillow shoved behind him, his fingers wet from condensation, David's warmth a welcome weight against his side. He felt completely and utterly... Content. Free to be silent, relaxed, without doing anything at all. For once, the issues and needs of the base didn't press their way to the forefront of his mind. Kaz's worries were blissfully quiet, drowned in the complete contentment of David's company.

"Who was that woman with Amanda Valenciano Libre?" David asked, lifting his head up to glance at Kaz. Kaz paused in surprise, not expecting this question.

"Ah, in my photos? The blonde?" he asked. David nodded. "She's an ornithologist. Birds were her thing. Recordings and photos of birds. Bo- She was picked up during a high stakes mission in which knowing the bird calls of the local fauna was helpful. She was also damn good scout." Kaz slanted his eyes downward, to look at the back of Solid's dark head. "Why, you already tired of me?"

David twisted his head around to look Kaz in the eye, scowling heavily. "That's not even funny at this point. I was just curious. Comandante Valenciano Libre was a major badass. The way she just took down that- ah, uhm-" David looked embarrassed, caught raving about someone when he was in bed with another. "Ah, well. She's cool." he finished, dropping his head back down on Kaz. Kaz chuckled and pressed a kiss to the top his head.

"Don't worry. She definitely is 100% badass. I don't blame you. Hey, have you ever read "Guerrilla Warfare"? It's a bit out-dated for you, but it's still- "

David cut over him, flipping himself to his knees, crouching on the bed beside Kaz, excitedly gesturing with his hands, cutting over Kaz in his excitement. "Yes, I've read that! 'Out-dated'? It should be required reading for any new soldier. I mean, do I agree with all the tactics described in it? No, of course not, but it's still fascinating reading." David took a breath, smiling at Kaz. "Sorry about that. I just- get excited, I suppose."

"Nothing wrong with that, I don't think that enjoying good books is anything to get all shame-faced about." Kaz cajoled him, nudging him with his knee. "C'mere."

David sat down next to Kaz against the other pillow on the bed, leaning heavily into him and laying his hand on Kaz's stomach.

"So," Kaz started after beat, taking a sip of his pineapple juice and setting the glass back down on the nightstand beside him. He turned his head to look at David properly. "You know how it was for me. How was it for you?"

David snorted and snuggled deeper into him. At Kaz's increasingly tense silence, David paused and then jolted slightly. "Oh, that wasn't rhetorical?"

"No," Kaz said tightly.

David twisted to look at him properly, and then laughed. "I thought my embarrassing reactions were enough, honestly." he said, intently looking at Kaz's shoulder, the familiar, faint red tinge creeping into his cheeks. "I kind of lost my mind. It was- great. Really great. Way better than I thought it'd be."

Kaz laughed, relieved. "What, you doubted my prowess? I don't know how to feel about this. You underestimated my talents?" he said, pressing the back of his wrist to his forehead in mock distress.

David was watching him with an odd expression on his face, amusement and something almost like pain.

"The only thing I wasn't OK with the fact that you wore these damn aviators the entire time," he huffed out, suddenly reaching out and plucking them off of Kaz's face, shocked by his own disregard of his normally respectful ways. He placed them on his own nose, hooking the earpieces into place. "I mean, what, you didn't want to see me properly, or you don't trust me enough- oh."

Kaz frowned at him, lowering his hand and laying it on his lap. "Yeah."

"They're prescription." David said blankly, looking around at the room and watching things distort into sepia toned blurs.

"Yep," Kaz agreed. He was nearsighted, but he didn't have such poor eyesight that he couldn't clearly see Solid's face, his eyes obscured by his aviators. Kaz had to admit, as annoyed as he was that David had found out this way, David naked aside from a pair of boxers and his sunglasses, sheets pooled around his middle, his hair mussed and his skin flushed from sex, was a pretty sight indeed. He enjoyed the sight of David's eyes framed by his aviators, looking sheepish for a moment, before holding out his hand.

"May I have those back?" he asked, with horribly exaggerated politeness. David yanked them off as carefully as you can yank something and handed them back. Kaz settled them back in their proper place, watching the background snap back into focus.

"Uh, sorry, sir," David muttered, glancing down at the bedsheets. At Kaz's raised eyebrow, he hurriedly said, "Kaz. I'm sorry, Kaz. It's just- You've taken them off before, and I didn't realize- Sorry."

Kaz leaned forward and cupped David's ass, squeezing it lightly, the cotton of his boxers soft against his fingers. "It's fine. You didn't know. And you didn't think that maybe I wanted to see what I was doing in intense clarity today, hm?"

David blinked, the dull flush in his cheeks rising. "Uh, well, no- "

Kaz leaned in even closer, angling his head so that he was speaking directly onto David's mouth. "Maybe I didn't think it quite as necessary to see your every movement before as I did this time," he continued, still gently touching his clothed ass, mindful of the discomfort he could cause. David say frozen, flitting between watching Kaz's unbearably close mouth and his eyes.

"You're always nice to look at, of course," Kaz said, not moving his head, so close his lips nearly brushed David's with every word he formed. "But I especially wanted to see you today, David."

With a little groan, David's hands sprung up and settled on Kaz's shoulders, pulling him that tiny distance closer, crushing his mouth against his.

"I thought you didn't want to go again," Kaz pointed out, unable to keep a small smirk off his face.

David frowned. "I didn't say anything about kissing. That was just cruel."

Chuckling, Kaz pushed David down onto the bed, moving on top of him. "Very well, then. Just kissing it is." And he leaned down.


End file.
